Vanessa Williams

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Vanessa Williams

Vanessa Williams relinquishes her Miss America crown. She is replaced by Suzette Charles, the first runner-up.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life and Accomplishments

Martin Luther King, Jr. was the charismatic leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Chosen to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott at its genesis in 1955, the year-long nonviolent struggle brought King under the scrutiny of a wary and divided nation. However, his

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Source: ThoughtCo

Children's Books on African American Freedom Fighters

The following childrens books not only provide an introduction to the lives of African-American freedom fighters your children should know about, but among them they also provide a historical overview of the fight for civil rights in the last several centuries up to the present, including the eras

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Source: ThoughtCo

Feb

1

1960

(1955) Martin Luther King Jr., “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”

The Montgomery Bus Boycott speech reprinted below is one of the first major addresses of Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King spoke to nearly 5,000 people at the Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery on December 5, 1955, just four days after Mrs. Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to relinquish

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Source: Black Past

Dec

5

1955

How Martin Luther King Day Became a Federal Holiday

On Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday, effective Jan. 20, 1986. As a result of this bill, Americans commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.s birthday on the third Monday in January. Few Americans are aware of the history of Martin Luther

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Source: ThoughtCo

In the Land of Czars and Commissars: African Americans in Russia, the Soviet Union, and Post-Soviet Russia, 1824-2015

It was in May 1824 that Nancy Gardner Prince, rescued from alife of poverty and hardship in Massachusetts through a recent marriage, foundherself in a most surreal circumstance unlike any previously experienced by anAfrican American in this region of the world. After recently arriving in

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Source: Black Past

(1963) John F. Kennedy, “We Face A Moral Crisis: The Civil Rights Message to Congress, 1963”

On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy sent his civil right message to Congress urging it to pass a civil rights act. The message was immediately prompted by the action of Governor George Wallace of Alabama in physically blocking the entrance of two African American students whom a federal

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Source: Black Past

Jun

11

1963

(1877) Alexander Crummell, “Address Before the American Geographical Society”

African American intellectual Alexander Crummell was one of the few19th century scholars known and respected widely among European Americans. In an address before the American Geographical Society delivered in Chickering Hall in New York City on May 22, 1877, Crummell demonstrates his appeal to one

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Source: Black Past

May

22

1877

Jupiter Hammon, the Father of African American Poetry

While Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) has been celebrated as America’s first published African-American poet, a slave named Jupiter Hammon may have been published before

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Source: ThoughtCo

Dec

25

1760

AME Church History Is a Story of Perseverance

The AME Church not only faced the obstacle that all new churches encounter -- lack of funds -- but a second barrier that proved a constant threat: racial

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Source: ThoughtCo

W. E. B. Du Bois

W. E. B. Du Bois also known as William Edward Burghardt (b. Feburary 23, 1868) was a an African-American historian, civil rights activist and the first sociologist to ever have an article published on the rights of African-Americans. His great-grandfather was French-American and his family had

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Source: Black History Resources

Keller, Helen Adams

Keller, Helen Adams, 1880–1968, American author and lecturer, blind and deaf from an undiagnosed illness at the age of two, b. Tuscumbia, Ala. In 1887 she was put under the charge of Anne Sullivan (see Macy, Anne Sullivan ), who was her teacher and companion until Sullivans death in 1936. As

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Morrow, John Howard (1910-2000)

John Morrow was a teacher, scholar, and diplomat who became America’s first leader at two key postings, the West African country of Guinea, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

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Source: Black Past

(1965) Lyndon B. Johnson, "The Voting Rights Act"

In early March 1965 much of the nations attention was focused on civil rights marches in and around Selma, Alabama. Activists led by Dr. Martin Luther King used these demonstrations to urge the federal government to act to end the denial of voting rights to tens of thousands of African Americans

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Source: Black Past

(1947) Henry A. Wallace, “Ten Extra Years”

Henry A. Wallace, the Vice President of the United States from 1941 to 1945 and the future candidate for the Presidency on the Progressive Party ticket in 1948, chose the National Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma in December 1947 to outline his views on racial

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Source: Black Past

Boykin, Keith (1965- )

Author, commentator, speaker, political advisor, and columnist Keith Boykin was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 28, 1965 but was raised in the suburb of

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Source: Black Past

Aug

28

1965

Doley, Harold, Jr (1947- )

Ambassador Harold E. Doley, Jr is the founder of Doley Securities, LLC, the oldest African American owned investment banking firm in the nation. Doley is the only African American to have owned a seat on the New York Stock

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Source: Black Past

Booker Washington in Seattle, 1913

An unusual incidence of interracial solidarity between blacks and Asian Americans occurred during Booker T. Washington’s visit to Seattle. In March 1913, Washington embarked on a national speaking tour in order to raise money for Tuskegee Institute, the chronically underfunded “Normal and

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Source: Black Past

(1984) Rev. Jesse Jackson, “The Rainbow Coalition”

In 1984 Rev. Jesse Jackson campaigned for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. Although he entered the Democratic convention at San Francisco with little hope of winning, his appeals on behalf of the dispossessed of America whom he characterized as the Rainbow Coalition, ensured that his

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Source: Black Past

Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel (1875-1912)

Born on August 15, 1875 to a physician from Sierra Leone and an Englishwoman, musical composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor grew-up in Holborn, England. He revealed his musical talents at the age of five, began studying the violin at the age of seven, and entered the Royal College of

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Source: Black Past

Aug

15

1875

Marian Wright Edelman

Marian Wright Edelman is a children’s rights activist, lawyer and educator. Born on June 6, 1939 in Bennettsville, South Carolina, her father was a Baptist preacher, who taught Marian and her siblings the value of education. He passed away when Marian was 14, and his dying advice to Marian was not

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Source: Black History Resources

Jun

6

1939

Camp Atwater (1921– )

Camp Atwater is a cultural, educational, and recreational camp designed for the children of African American professionals. The camp, founded in 1921 by Dr. William De Berry, was located in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Initially named St. John’s Camp, in 1926 the name was officially changed to

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Source: Black Past

Feb

26

1999

Name at birth: Ruby Ann Wallace

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Post–Civil Rights era in African-American history

The Post–Civil Rights era in African-American history is defined as the time period in the United States since Congressional passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, major federal legislation that ended legal segregation, gained federal

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Source: ThoughtCo

Smith, James McCune (1813-1865)

Although many twenty-first century readers are aware of his work only through his introduction to Frederick Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom, Dr. James McCune Smith was one of the most broadly accomplished black intellectuals and activists in antebellum America. Born in New York on April

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Source: Black Past

(Press Release) BlackPast.org Opens World of Black History to the World of Internet Users

206-985-8553 phone

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Source: Black Past

Feb

1

2007

Fighting for Racial Justice in the Pacific Northwest: Lillian Walker and the Long Struggle for Civil Rights

In the following account John C. Hughes, chief oral historian for the Washington State Legacy Project, discusses the life and legacy of Lillian Walker, who has been a civil rights activist in Bremerton, Washington, since World War II. Established in 2008 by Washington Secretary of State Sam

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Source: Black Past

Central Area School Council (1969-1975)

The Central Area School Council (CASC) was formed in 1969 at a time when community control of public schools was considered by many local activists as a more effective strategy than school integration in improving the performance of African American students. Activists argued that with

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Source: Black Past

A Short History of African-American Folk Music

From the blues to zydeco, and jazz to hip-hop, slave-era spirituals about struggle and personal empowerment to the forefathers of rock and roll, America’s roots music is absolutely replete with the influence of the African-American community. Understanding the history provides a wonderful way to

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Source: ThoughtCo

(1995) Louis Farrakhan, “A Million Men Marching On"

In 1995 Minister Louis Farrakhan was the leader of the Nation of Islam. That year his organization became the driving force in the Million Man March, a call for African American men to come to Washington D.C. on October 17, 1995, in what was billed as “a day of atonement.” Although

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Source: Black Past

(2017) President Barack Obama's Farewell Address

On January 10, 2017, Barack Obama delivered his last farewell address in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. His speech is appears

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Source: Black Past

Jan

10

2017

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