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What Comes Naturally: The Loving v. Virginia Case in Historical Perspective
When Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter decided to get married in June 1958, laws banning interracial marriage had been in effect for nearly three centuries.  The colonies of Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts had banned intermarriage in 1664, 1691, and 1705.  After the American Revolution, states
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Source: Black Past
Jun
12
1967
Black Men and Women Elected To Congress
A record number of Black congressmen and the first Black woman representative were elected to Congress. The nine Black congressmen and Sen. Edward W. Brooke topped the previous high of eight in the Forty-fourth Congress of 1875-77. The first Black woman representative, Shirley Chisholm of the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
5
1968
Towns, Edolphus (1934- )
Currently in his 13th term in Congress, Edolphus Towns is a Democratic Representative from the State of New York.  Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina on July 21, 1934, and attended the public schools of Chadbourn before graduating with a B.S. degree from North Carolina Agricultural and
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Source: Black Past
Jul
21
1934
Henry Ransom Cecil McBay, chemist, is born
Henry Ransom Cecil McBay, chemist, Born May 29, 1914 in Mexia, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science from Wiley College in 1934 and a Master of Science from Atlanta University in 1936. Henry McBay earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1945. McBay served as an Instructor
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
29
1914
Colin Powell
Born: 4/5/937 Harlem, New YorkColin Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under U.S. President George W. Bush from 200 to 2005, the first African American to serve in that position. During
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Henry Highland Garnet, first Black to speak in the
Henry Highland Garnet, first Black to speak in the Capitol, delivered memorial sermon on the abolition of slavery at services in the House of Representatives. Henry Highland Garnet was born a slave in New Market, Maryland, in 1815. He escaped in 1824 and made his way to New York where he studied at
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Feb
12
1865
Runnin' Wild opened at Colonial Theater, Broadway
Runnin Wild opened at Colonial Theater, Broadway. Miller and Lyles Productions introduced Charleston to New York and the world.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Oct
29
1923
Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age
Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age 76 whiel a patient at the Bronx Community Hospital. Norris was one of nine African American teenagers accused of the 1931 rape of two white prostitutes in Alabama. The case was tried several times between 1931 and 1937
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
22
1989
Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett is a well known African American actress and director. She was born in New York in August 1958 to Betty Jane and Daniel Benjamin Bassett. Her ancestors adopted the name of Bassett after William Henry Bassett, who was a slave who adopted the name of his former master. Shortly after
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Source: Black History Resources
Abbott, Anderson Ruffin (1837-1913)
Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada’s first black doctor, was born April 7, 1837 in Toronto, Ontario.  He was the son of free black property owners William Ruffin Abbott and his wife Ellen (Toyer) Abbott who left Alabama after their store had been destroyed.  They settled briefly in New York until
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Source: Black Past
Dec
29
1913
Agrippa Hull: Revolutionary Patriot
In the following article, University of California at Los Angeles historian Gary B. Nash describes little-known Revolutionary War soldier who was attached by General George Washington to serve with Polish military engineer Tadeuz Kosciuszko. This account is part of a larger history of three
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
May
21
1848
New York Draft Riots
On the Monday morning of July 13, 1863, the Enrollment
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
13
1863
Actor Billy Dee Williams born
Actor Billy Dee Williams, known in such works as Mahogany and two Star Wars sequels, was born in New York city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
6
1937
Ailey, Alvin (1931-1989)
Alvin Ailey was born in Rodgers, Texas during the Great Depression. He overcame racism, poverty, and homophobia to become one of the most celebrated choreographers in American history. His single teenage mother Lula Ailey washed clothes, picked cotton, and worked in domestic service in various
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Source: Black Past
Actor/Comedian Godfrey Cambridge born
Godfrey Cambridge, actor and comedian born in New York.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Feb
26
1933
Katherine Dunham (1910-)
American dancer, choreographer, and scholar. She was a pioneer in the use of folk and ethnic choreography, and considered one of the founders of the anthropological dance movement. With Aida in 1963, she became the first Black to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera in New York city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
6
2001
Dinkins, David N. (1927- )
In 1989, David N. Dinkins defeated his challenger, former federal prosecutor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani, to become the first African American mayor of New York
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Source: Black Past
City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (1989)
? APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 87-998. Argued October 5, 1988 Decided January 23, 1989 Appellant city adopted a Minority Business Utilization Plan (Plan) requiring prime contractors awarded city construction contracts to subcontract at least 30%
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
The movie, Green Pastures, premieres in New York's
The movie, Green Pastures, premieres in New Yorks Radio City Music Hall.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jul
16
1936
James Theodore Holly
James Theodore Holly, a Black American who emigrated to Haiti in 1861, elected bishop of Haiti. He was consecrated in a ceremony at New Yorks Grace Church on November 8.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Nov
3
1874
(1899) Lucy Craft Laney, “The Burden of the Educated Colored Woman”
Lucy Craft Laney was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1854, into a family of ten children. Taught to read and write by her mother, a domestic worker, she graduated from Macons Lewis High School and entered Atlanta University at the age of fifteen and graduated in 1873. Laney taught in the Georgia public
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Source: Black Past
(1832) Maria W. Stewart Advocates Education for African American Women
In September 1832, Maria W. Stewart delivered at Boston’s Franklin Hall one of the first public lectures ever given by an American woman. Her speech, directed to the women of the African American Female Intelligence Society, called on black women to acquire equality through education. The speech
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
(1880) P.B.S. Pinchback, “Campaign Speech for GOP Presidential Candidate James G. Garfield."
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, the son of a white Mississippi planter and a former slave, was the first African American to serve as governor of a state when after the governor of Louisiana was impeached, he as Lt. Governor completed the 34 days left in his term (December 9, 1872 to January
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Classical Conductor Dean Dixon born.
Classical Conductor Dean Dixon is born in 1915 in Harlem, NY. Fluent in Swedish, French and German, Dixon became one of Europes best known conductors after leaving the US in 1949. He conducted the Goteborg (Sweden) Symphony for 10 years before being named conductor for the Hessian Radio Symphony in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
10
1915
Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam
Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, called for creation of a Black state in America at a New York meeting.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
31
1960
Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Early 20th Century Harlem Radicalism
In the article below independent historian Jeffrey Perry discusses his 2008 book on early 20th Century Harlem activist Hubert
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Mercer, Mabel Alice Wadham (1900-1984)
Mabel Mercer was one of the most important jazz cabaret singers of the 20th Century. Her personal singing style emphasizing interpretation, diction, lyrics, and projection over vocal proficiency influenced numerous leading singers including Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Nat
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Source: Black Past
Dash, Julie (1952- )
Filmmaker Julie Dash was born on October 22, 1952 in Queens, New York. She received her B.A. in film production from City College of New York in 1974 and went on to earn a two-year fellowship to the Center for Advanced Film Studies at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles.  At AFI, Dash
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Source: Black Past
Oct
22
1952
Roland Hayes' Fifth American Tour
Roland Hayes opened his fifth American Tour at New Yorks Carnegie Hall packed with admirers.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
15
1928
First Black Petition
First black legal protest in America pressed by
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
0
1644
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