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Gwendolyn Brooks, poet, first Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry) in 1950.
Gwendolyn Brooks, poet, first Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry) in 1950. Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas but grew up in Chicago. She is a witty poet who satirizes blacks and whites and attacks racial discrimination. She uses black language and rituals to proclaim black solidarity.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
1
1950
1777
On December 31, 1777; George Washington reverses previous policy and allows the recruitment of black soldiers. some 5,000 participate in the Revolutionary War.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Dec
31
1777
Oliver Cromwell,
Oliver Cromwell, soldier in the Revolutionary War, receives an honorable discharge and the Badge of Merit from George Washington
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
5
1783
The Chip Woman's Fortune by Willis Richardson
The Chip Womans Fortune by Willis Richardson, the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be mounted on Broadway, opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
May
15
1923
Z. Alexander Looby
Z. Alexander Looby the first African American to serve on the Nashville City Council dies
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Mar
24
1972
Black Union Soliders
Fifth Massachusetts Colored Cavalry and units of the Twenty-fifth Corps were in the vanguard of Union troops entering Richmond. Second Division of Twenty-Fifth Corps helped chase Robert E. Lees army from Petersburg to Appomattox Court House, April 3-10. The Black division and white Union soldiers
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Apr
3
1865
African Americans Replaces Reluctant Whites
African Americans Replaces Reluctant Whites: By 1777, losses on the field of battle and rising White desertions had reduced the Continental Armys ranks of men. Northern colonies began to accept African Americans, free and slave, because these colonies could not fill their quotas with White man. In
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
5
2002
Congressman William Gray
Congressman William Gray is elected Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives, the highest ranking leadership position ever held by an African American in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
14
1989
Four national chain stores announced
Four national chain stores announced on October 17 that counters in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma had been integrated.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
1
1960
Blacks held mass meeting in Norfolk (Va.) and
Blacks held mass meeting in Norfolk (Va.) and demanded equal rights and ballots. Other equal rights meetings and conventions were held in Petersburg, Va., June 6; Vicksburg, Miss., June 19; Alexandria, Va., August 3; Nashville, Tenn., August 7-11; Raleigh, N.C., September 29-October
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
11
1965
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby in a row. African American jockeys have won 15 of 28 Derby races.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
May
1
1902
Martin Luther King, Jr.
On January 16, 1986, a bronze bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. is the first of any black American placed in the Capitol. The first national Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday is celebrated on January 20.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Jan
16
1986
Sigma Gamma Rho, Sorority Inc. founded
Seven black women in Indianopolis, Indiana founded Sigma Gamma Rho sorority based on a desire to raise the standards of teachers in normal and other schools. These individuals included Mary Lou Allison Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
12
1922
John B. McLendon
John B. McLendon becomes the first African American coach in the ABA when he signs a two year contract with the Denver Nuggets.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
May
14
1969
Captured Black Soliders
Surrounded by a superior rebel force, First Kansas Colored Volunteers smashed through rebel lines and sustained heavy casualties in an engagement at Poison Spring, Arkansas. Captured Black soldiers were murdered by the Confederate troops.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Apr
18
1864
Joseph Haynes Rainey
Joseph Haynes Rainey, first African American representative in the U.S. House of Representatives where he will serve five terms, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
21
1832
Charles Edward Anderson
In 1960, Charles Edward Anderson earned a Ph.D. in Meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts. Charles Edward Anderson the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Meteorology; died today.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
21
1994
African American Women College Presidents
On July 1, 1987, for the first time in history, there were three African American women serving as Presidents of Four Year Colleges and Universities in America.They were - Dr. Niara Sudarkasa- President of Lincoln University in Pennslyvania; Dr. Johnetta Cole, President of Spelman College in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
1
1987
Phyllis Mae Daley, first of four African American
Phyllis Mae Daley, first of four African American Navy nurses to serve active duty in WW II receives her commission as an ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
8
1945
Bacon's Rebellion
African Americans fought in the first armed rebellion against British authority in the colonies, Bacons Rebellion, in 1676. Nathaniel Bacon was a member of the rising generation of colonial planters who resented British rule and, particularly, the British protection of Indian lands that lay just
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
26
2002
NAACP attacked issues concerning schools
NAACP began frontal attack on segregation and discrimination at elementary and high school levels, arguing that segregation was discrimination in cases before three-judged federal courts in South Carolina and Kansas. The South Carolina court, with a strong dissent from Judge E. Waites Warning, held
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
30
1951
In "Re Negro John Punch," the Virginia court mandatesan extra year's service f
In Re Negro John Punch, the Virginia court mandates an extra years service for two white men and lifetime servitude for John Punch for running away.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jan
0
1641
Violette Neatley Anderson
Violette Neatley Anderson is the first African American woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
29
1926
Max Robinson, first African American news anchor for a major television network
Max Robinson, first African American news anchor for a major television network died today.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
20
1988
Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris, the first African American U.S. Ambassador is named permanent chairman of the Democratic National Convention. She will later be appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services and Secretary of Housing and Urban development
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
27
1972
Walter F.White, NAACP Pres.
Walter F. White named NAACP executive secretary. The NAACP has had many leaders since its beginning in 1910, but none was more determined and devoted than Walter F. White. This fair-skinned, blue-eyed man who wouldnt pass worked a lifetime to defeat the nations barriers to integration
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
9
1931
Former Saint Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White is named president of the
Former Saint Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White is named president of the National League. He is the first African American to head a major sports league.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Feb
3
1989
Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams
Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, the first African American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl game, is named MVP in Super Bowl XXII.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
31
1988
Virginia passes a fugitive slave order penalizing those who assistrunaway slav
Virginia passes a fugitive slave order penalizing those who assist runaway slaves.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1642
Larry Doby
Larry Doby is born. He will become the first African American in baseballs American League, playing for the Cleveland Indians. He will be the 1954 RBI leader.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
13
1924
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