One-Man Show of Art

Rhodes, J. Steven (1951- )

J. Steven Rhodes, U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 29, 1951. After graduating from high school he attended Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California where he was a member of the LMU 1969 Hall of Fame football

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Source: Black Past

Abel, Elijah (1810-1884)

Elijah Abel, early convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), was born on July 25, 1810 in Washington County, Maryland to Andrew and Delilah Abel, likely in bondage. There is some evidence that he used the Underground Railroad to escape slavery. He eventually found his way to

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Source: Black Past

Sharpton, Alfred Charles “Al” (1954- )

Born in Brooklyn, New York on October 3, 1954, Alfred Charles Sharpton, Jr., is an American Baptist minister and political, social, and human rights advocate. Known as “the Wonder Boy” as a youth, he was licensed and ordained as a Pentecostal minister and toured with the gospel singer

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Source: Black Past

Oct

3

1954

Race, Gender, Jazz & Local 493: Black Women Musicians in Seattle: 1920-1955

During its brief and rocky tenure from 1918 to 1924, pianist Gertrude Harvey Wright was one of four women in Seattle’s first black musicians’ union, the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 458. Wright, Virginia Hughes, a “Mrs. Austin,” and (Edythe) “Turnham,” all

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Source: Black Past

(1808) Rev. Peter Williams, “An Oration On The Abolition Of The Slave Trade”

On March 2, 1807 Congress enacted a law that banned the external slave trade beginning January 1, 1808. With that act enslaved persons could no longer be brought to the United States. Although the law would be frequently violated until the eve of the Civil War, many black and white anti-slavery

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Source: Black Past

Medgar Evers

Myrlie Evers-Williams was the first woman chair of the NAACP (1995-98)… Evers was interred at Arlington Military Cemetery… In Beckwith’s first two trials, the juries were all white; in his last trial, the jury had eight blacks and four whites… For Us, The Livingwas adapted by Ossie Davis and made

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for his

Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. and her daughter at her husbands funeral

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Source: Blackfacts.com

May

5

1969

Johnson, Magic

Johnson, Magic (Earvin Johnson, Jr.), 1959–, African-American basketball player, b. Lansing, Mich. After winning the national championship with Michigan State Univ. (1979), he joined the Los Angeles Lakers and with them won five National Basketball Association championships

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Tone Lōc

Tone Lōc is an American rapper and actor who is best known for his song “Wild Thing”. He was born Anthony Terrell Smith on March 3, 1966 to Margaret Smith, who was the manager of a retirement home and James Smith. During his youth, Smith was a member of a street gang called SouthSide

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

23

1989

civil rights: Civil Rights in the United States

Since the Civil War , much of the concern over civil rights in the United States has focused on efforts to extend these rights fully to African Americans. The first legislative attempts to assure African Americans an equal political and legal status were the Civil Rights Acts of

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Blayton, Jesse B., Sr. (1879-1977)

Jesse B. Blayton, Sr., was a pioneer African American radio station entrepreneur. Blayton founded WERD-AM in Atlanta, Georgia on October 3, 1949 making him the first African American to own and operate a radio station in the United

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Source: Black Past

Oct

3

1949

Sammy Davis Jr.

Samuel George “Sammy” Davis, Jr. simply known as Sammy Davis Jr., was an acclaimed American entertainer of the 20th century. Born in Harlem, New York on December 8, 1925, Davis spent the better half of his life enjoying the rare skill of making other people happy. While he was primarily

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Source: Black History Resources

Gatson, Dewey (AKA Rajo Jack DeSoto) (1905-1956)

Automobile racer Rajo Jack DeSoto was born Dewey Gatson on July 28, 1905 in Tyler, Texas. (Previously published biographies have incorrectly listed his racing name as Rojo Jack.) Rajo Jack was barred from racing in many organized venues because of his African American heritage, but he had several

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Source: Black Past

Rice, Condoleezza (1954- )

Condoleezza Rice has earned distinction as a scholar, expert on international politics, and with her appointments as the first African American woman National Security Advisor and Secretary of State of the United

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Source: Black Past

Nov

14

1954

W.E.B. DuBois and the Making of the Encyclopedia Africana, 1909-1963

In their introduction to Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, co-editors Henry Louis Gates and Kwame Anthony Appiah describe W.E.B. DuBois’s half century campaign to publish an encyclopedia that would encompass the African diaspora. That introduction appears

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Source: Black Past

Bertonneau, E. Arnold (1834-1912)

Arnold Bertonneau was a New Orleans wine merchant, black soldier, and is best known as one of the first African American participants in Louisiana’s Reconstruction period. In 1862-63, Bertonneau was a captain in the 1st Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guards. This volunteer black regiment

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Source: Black Past

Arkansas Pioneers in Flight: African Americans in Aviation from the Natural State, 1932 to 1953.

Pioneering African-American Aviators Featuring the Tuskegee Airmen of Arkansas is a study of little known black women and men who participated in the first four decades of U.S. aviation history. The book began originally in 2006 as a biography of Milton Pitts Crenchaw, a native of Little

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Source: Black Past

Washington, Janie Rogella (1908-2000)

Janie Rogella Washington was the wife of James W. Washington, Jr. (1911-2000), an internationally known Northwest artist. A Seattle nurse, she shared and inspired the spirituality that shaped his art. One of 12 children, Janie Rogella Miller was born near Henderson, Texas to Freeman Miller and

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Source: Black Past

Sep

9

2000

The Martin L. King, Jr, federal Building is dedicated in Atlanta, Ga. It is the

The Martin L. King, Jr, federal Building is dedicated in Atlanta, Ga. It is the first federal building in the nation to bear the name of the slain civil rights leader.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

4

1988

Dawson, Horace G. (1926- )

Horace G. Dawson, Jr. was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Botswana by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. After his confirmation by the U.S. Senate he served in that post until 1983. Dawson was born in Augusta, Georgia on January 30, 1926. He attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania where he earned

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Source: Black Past

Jan

14

2004

Ebony Magazine

Ebony, a pictorial news magazine published by Chicago, Illinois-based Johnson Publishing Company, first appeared in November 1945. Created by John H. Johnson, who modeled his publication after Life magazine, Ebony celebrated African American life and culture by depicting the achievements of black

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Source: Black Past

Archibald John Motley, painter, born

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Oct

7

1891

Army Lt. Gen. Emmett Paige, Jr. born

Army Lt. Gen. Emmett Paige, Jr. born in Jacksonville, Florida

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

20

1931

Documentary Films on Blackpast.org - African American History - Director

A&E Television Americas Black Warriors (on World War II) 1998

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Source: Black Past

The Southern Negro Youth Congress: A Participant Recalls Its Past

In the article below historian Gwendolyn Midlo Hall recounts her role as a founder of the New Orleans Youth Congress and the early years of the Southern Negro Youth Congress. This account is part of her soon to be published

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Source: Black Past

Nov

15

1974

Evans, Melvin Herbert (1917–1984)

Melvin Herbert Evans was born on August 7, 1917, in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He attended public schools until entering Howard University where he received his B.S. in 1940. In 1944 he received his M.D. from Howard College of Medicine, whereupon he served in a variety of medical

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Source: Black Past

Jan

3

1979

Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church

Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church , the nearby crypt containing the remains of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his boyhood home are dedicated as part of a memorial to be known as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

15

1970

Col. B. O.Davis Jr.

Col. B.O. Davis Jr. assumed command of Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio.The Tuskegee Airmen are the black pilots, bombardiers, navigators and support personnel trained during World War II. The fighter pilots of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps, led by

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

13

1946

Alcorn State University (1871-- )

Founded in 1871, Alcorn State University is the oldest historically black land-grant institution in the United States and the second oldest state supported institution in the state of Mississippi. The college is located outside of Lorman in Claiborne County. Alcorn was founded in vacated Oakland

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Source: Black Past

Conyers, Jr., John (1929- )

John Conyers, Jr. was born on May 16, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended public schools and graduated in 1947 from Northwestern High School. After high school, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the United Automobile Workers Union (UAW). Conyers worked for the Lincoln Car

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Source: Black Past

May

16

1929

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