The Discovery Partners Institute and the Illinois Department of Public Health launch an online COVID-19 tracker

Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity founded

At Indiana University, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. was founded by Elder W. Diggs, Byron K. Armstrong, John M. Lee, Harvey T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Guy L. Grant, Paul Caine, George W. Edmonds, Ezra D. Alexander and Edward

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

5

1911

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

Underground Railroad, The (1820-1861)

The Underground Railroad was established to aid enslaved people in their escape to freedom. The railroad was comprised of dozens of secret routes and safe houses originating in the slaveholding states and extending all the way to the Canadian border, the only area where fugitives could be assured

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Source: Black Past

Portrait of Black Chicago

The captions are John White`s own, written some time after he took his photographs. In some cases White used virtually the same caption for several

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Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock was born on April 12, 1940, in Chicago Illinois into a musical family. His father was a government meat inspector and mother was a secretary. Herbie began studying piano at the age of 7, he started his education with classical music. On February 5, 1952, along with Chicago Symphony

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Source: Black History Resources

Feb

5

1952

Washington, Harold (1922 – 1987)

Harold Washington, the first African American mayor of Chicago, Illinois, was born on April 15, 1922, to Roy Washington, a lawyer, Methodist minister and one of the first black precinct captains in Chicago. Washington’s mother Bertha Washington was a well-known singer in the

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Source: Black Past

Josephine Baker dies

Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she later took the name Baker from her stepfather. Surviving the 1917 riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, where the family was living, she ran away a few years alter at age thirteen and began dancing in vaudeville and on Broadway. In 1925, she

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

12

1975

Martin Luther King Jr's Death

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated by white sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. Assassination precipitated a national crisis and rioting in more than one hundred cities. Forty-six persons were killed in major rebellions in Washington, Chicago and other cities. Twenty thousand federal troops and

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

4

1968

Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. (1935-1967)

Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., was the first African American selected to be an astronaut. He was also a test pilot and senior United States Air Force pilot with over 2,500 flight

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Source: Black Past

Oct

2

1935

Lane, William Henry/Master Juba (1825-c. 1852)

William Henry Lane is credited as one of the most influential figures in the creation of American tap dance. Lane developed a unique style of using his body as a musical instrument, blending African-derived syncopated rhythms with movements of the Irish jig and reel. Lane’s melding of these

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Source: Black Past

Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison is an American Physician and a former NASA Astronaut. Jemison is the first African American woman to travel in

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

17

1956

Mr. T born

Actor and entertainer Lawrence Tero (Mr. T) born in Chicago, Illinois.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

May

20

1952

Carson, Johnnie (1943- )

Johnnie Carson is a retired diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Uganda (1991-1994), U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe (1995-1997), and U.S. Ambassador to Kenya (1999-2003). Carson was born on April 7, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. After attending public schools in Chicago, Carson received

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Source: Black Past

May

7

2009

"Yes We Can": Barack Obama's Road to the White House, 2008

Barack Obamas campaign for the Presidency in 2008 has been described by many political analysts as brilliant and virtually flawless. Despite his inexperience in national politics and limited experience in state politics (Obama was first elected to political office in 1994), he assembled

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Source: Black Past

J.H. Jackson

J.H. Jackson, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, Chicago, elected president of the National Baptist Convention at Miami meeting.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

11

1953

Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress

Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress from Illinois First Congressional District (Chicago). He was the first congressman from the North and the first Black in Congress since the departure of George H. White in 1901.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

6

1928

John H. Johnson, Editor and Publisher of JET

1918 : John H. Johnson, Editor and Publisher of JET and Ebony magazines, founder of Johnson Publishing Company, the most successful African American publishing company in the U.S., owner of Fashion Fair cosmetics, and the first African American owned radio station in Chicago, born

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jun

19

1918

Lou Rawls is born

Louis Allen Rawls AKA Lou Rawls born in Chicago. He is a three-time Grammy-winning singer and has been a popular black MOR singer since the Fifties.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

1

1935

Cecil A

Cecil A. Partee elected president pro tem of the Illinois state senate.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

6

1971

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

Coleman, John A.(1852- ? )

John A. Coleman was born a slave in 1852 in Talladega County, Alabama. After he received his freedom at the end of the Civil War, Coleman attended the newly established Talladega College for three years. He worked on a Mississippi River steamboat and then migrated to New York

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Source: Black Past

Death of Anthony Overton

Death of Anthony Overton (81), publisher, cosmetics manufacturer and banker, Chicago.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jul

2

1946

Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee, track legend born

Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee TRACK & FIELD Birthplace: East St. Louis, Illinois March 3, 1962 - Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee is part of a the Joyner family of Americantrack-and-field stars. Jackie first gained national attention by winning 4consecutive National Junior Pentathlon Championships. She set

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

3

1962

Gwendolyn Brooks

Born on June 7, 1917, to a family who belonged to Kansas but later moved to Chicago, Gwendolyn Brooks was an American poet and teacher. Even though both of her parents wanted to pursue their careers as doctors but were unable to do so due to financial constraints, they were supportive of their

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Source: Black History Resources

Jun

7

1917

Donald, Arnold (1954- )

Arnold Donald is an American businessman and CEO of Carnival Corporation headquartered in Miami, Florida. He has held the position since 2013. Prior to this position, he was a senior executive at Monsanto in

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Source: Black Past

Jazz Migration

Jazz migration began. Joe Oliver left New Orleans and settled in Chicago and was joined by other stars.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

11

1917

Jame Cleveland

Born on this day in Chicago, Illinois, James Cleveland first sang gospel under the direction of Thomas Dorsey at the Pilgrim Baptist Church.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

5

1932

Reynolds, Melvin Jay “Mel” (1952- )

Politician, scholar and professor, Mel Reynolds was born on January 8, 1952, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, to parents J.J. and Essie May Reynolds. Reynolds attended John Marshall High School on the Westside of Chicago where he developed impressive academic credentials. He then enrolled in Chicago

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Source: Black Past

Oct

1

1995

Thornton, Willie Mae “Big Mama” (1926-1984)

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was a blues singer and songwriter whose recordings of “Hound Dog” and “Ball ‘n’ Chain” later were transformed into huge hits by Elvis Presley and Janis

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Source: Black Past

Jul

25

1984

Portrait of Black Chicago

The captions are John Whites own, written some time after he took his photographs. In some cases White used virtually the same caption for several

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Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

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