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Lawrence Douglas Wilder assumes title as governor
In Richmond, Virginia former Lt. Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder took office as the first popularly elected African American governor of an American state.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Jan
14
1990
NAACP Elects Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume is unanimously elected President and CEO of the NAACP.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
9
1995
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm became the first African American Presidential nominee, with 151 votes from the delegates polled.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
13
1972
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell was the first African American to hold the highest U.S. Military post. In August 1989 he was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
0
1989
Alex Haley, renowned author, dies
American biographer, scriptwriter, author who became famous with the publication of the novel ROOTS, which traces his ancestry back to Africa and covers seven American generations as they are taken slaves to the United States. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
10
1992
Jefferson Davis Signed Bill
Jefferson Davis signed bill authorizing use of slaves as soldiers in the Confederate army.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
13
1861
Willie D. Burton
Willie D. Burton becomes the first African American to win the Oscar for sound, for the movie Bird.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Apr
11
1988
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African A
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American woman to be elected mayor of a U.S. city (Taft, OK)
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
16
1973
Gladys Ross dies
Gladys Merritt Ross, co-founder of Phi Delta Kappa sorority for African American teachers, dies in Stockton, California.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
May
6
1985
South Carolina constitutional convention
South Carolina constitutional convention, the first official assembly in the West with a Black majority, met in the Charleston Clubhouse with seventy-six Black delegates and forty-eight white delegates. Two-thirds of the Black delegates were former slaves. A New York Herald reporter wrote: Here in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Jan
14
1868
Percy Julian, developer of drugs to combat glaucom
Percy Julian, developer of drugs to combat glaucoma and methods to mass produce cortisone and George Washington Carver are the first African American Inventors admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the halls 17-year history.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
8
1990
First Black minister to serve for a White congregation, Lemuel Haynes was born,
First Black minister to serve for a White congregation, Lemuel Haynes was born, 1753
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
18
1753
Henry Lewis
On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
15
1968
Ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago
Ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by artist and poet Margaret T. Burroughs in 1961, the DuSable is one of the oldest African American museums in the U.S.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
17
1991
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American unit is formed and the Tuskegee Training Program is established, the 99th will fly more than 500 missions and more than 3,700 sorties during one year of combat before being combined with the 332nd Fighter Group.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jan
16
1941
First African American Intercollegiate football
Livingstone and Biddle College (now Johnson C. Smith) play the first African American intercollegiate football game
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
27
1892
James Gladden 1st certified orthopedic surgeon
January 22, 1949 - James Robert Gladden becomes first African American certified in orthopedic surgery.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
22
1949
A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa
A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African American artist elected to the National Academy of Design
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
10
1973
Richard Theodore Greener
Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
30
1844
Barthelemy Boganda, President and foun
Barthelemy Boganda, President and founder of the Central African Republic, dies in a plane crash.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Mar
29
1959
Truman sends Congress Anti-Lynching Message
President Truman sent Congress a special message urging adoption of a civil rights program, including a fair employment practices commission and anti-lynching and anti-poll tax measures.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Feb
2
1948
1961: Andrew hatcher is named associate press secretary to President John F. Ken
1961: Andrew hatcher is named associate press secretary to President John F. Kennedy.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Nov
10
1999
Spingarn Medal : Medar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers awarded Spingarn Medal posthumously for his civil rights leadership.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Dec
12
1963
President George Bush nominated conservative black Clarence Thomas to replace Th
President George Bush nominated conservative black Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
2
1991
President Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in rebel states with exception of thirteen parishes (including New Orleans) in Louisiana, forty-eight countries in West Virginia, seven countries (including Norfolk) in Eastern Virginia. Proclamation did not apply to slaves in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
1
1863
George H. White
George H. White, the only African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, (1896) and the first to introduce an antilynching bill, born. He also founded Whitesboro, N,J, as a haven for African Americans escaping Southern racism.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
18
1852
Composer and violinist, Clarence C White, dies, 1880
Composer and violinist, Clarence C White, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
10
1880
Cowboy Willie "Bill" Pickett dies
World famous African American cowboy Willie Bill Pickett died in Ponca, Oklahoma, hospital of injuries sustained after he was kicked in the head by a horse on the Millers Brothers Fabulous 101 Ranch.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
2
1932
Shirley Franklin is sworn in
Shirley Franklin is sworn in as the first African American Mayor of Atlanta and the only African American female mayor of a major American city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Jan
7
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
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