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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
From Slave to Litigant: African Americans in Court in the Post-Civil War South
In the following article Melissa Milewski, a graduate student in history at New York University, describes her research which has uncovered the surprising success of African American litigants in court cases in the post-Civil War
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Source: Black Past
Jan
1
1854
(1923) James Weldon Johnson, “Our Democracy and the Ballot”
Poet, novelist and U.S. diplomat, James Weldon Johnson is probably best known to millions as the author of the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the black national anthem. Johnson was also a civil rights activist and was Executive Secretary of the National Association of Colored
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Source: Black Past
Mar
10
1923
Dorothy Height born
Birthday of Dorothy Irene Height in Richmond, Virginia. Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women for more than three decades, organized a successful drive to place a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune in a District of Columbia park. Once erected, the statue became the first of an African
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
24
1912
The French And Indian War
Black Troops in the French and Indian War: Even before the Revolutionary War, a pattern had been established in British colonies whereby African Americans were enlisted to defend the colonies when they were attacked, but were excluded from military service in times of peace. When Major General
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
9
2002
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley, historian, educator, and administrator, was born on this day. His published works included, Neglected History, Collapse of the Confederacy, Negro Labor in the United States, and 1850-1925: A Study of American Economic History.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
2
1895
The Virginia court rules in favor of John Graweere,an indentured servant who p
The Virginia court rules in favor of John Graweere, an indentured servant who petitioned the court for permission to purchase his childs freedom from the owner of the childs mother.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1641
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan was a popular twentieth century African-American Jazz singer. She was recognized for her beautiful voice and often nicknamed ‘Sassy’, ‘Sailor’ and ‘The Divine One’ for her salty speech. Moreover, she won a Grammy Award and was awarded the “highest honor in jazz” by The
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
27
1924
Sommersett, James (c1741-c1772)
James Sommersett was the subject of a landmark legal case in Great Britain, which was the first major step in imposing limits on Trans-Atlantic African slavery. Sommersett entered the pages of history when in 1771, he fled his North American owner, Charles Stewart, while both were living in
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Source: Black Past
Jun
22
1772
Did You Know That In...
1671 - There are 2000 African slaves in Virginia
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1671
Virginia enacts statue that denies equality before the law to freed blacks.
Virginia enacts statue that denies equality before the law to freed blacks.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1668
Business and civic leader, Maggie L Walker, opens the St Luke Penny Savings Bank
Business and civic leader, Maggie L Walker, opens the St Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, VA, 1903
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
2
1903
Namibia
Current government officials
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
African American History: Bibliography
Home
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Source: Black Past
Boseman, Benjamin Anthony (1840-1881)
Benjamin A. Boseman, physician, politician, and postmaster, was free born in New York in 1840 to Benjamin A. and Annaretta Boseman.  He was the oldest of five children, two girls and three boys.  Boseman grew up in Troy, New York where his father served as a steward on the steamboat Empire in the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Feb
23
1881
More than one hundred delegates from six states
More than one hundred delegates from six states held a Black convention in Philadelphia. John Mercer Langston, one of the first Blacks to win public office, elected clerk of Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio. In 1856 he was elected clerk of the township of Russia, near Oberlin. In 1857 he was
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
16
1855
Savings Bank Opening
Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opened in Richmond, Virginia.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Apr
3
1889
Virginia Students Protest Segregated Schools
Students attending Moton High School, Prince Edward County, Virginia led a walk out to protest separate and unequal school
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
23
1951
Did You Know That In...
1669 - A Virginia act rules that slave owners will not be held liable for killing their slaves.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1669
Virginia's ethics are challenged
U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia law banning inter-racial marriage was unconstitutional.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
12
1967
The United States Colored Troops (1863-1865)
The United States Colored Troops (USCT) was the designation given to the approximately 175 regiments of non-white soldiers that served during the Civil War. The troops were primarily African American, but Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders were all included within the
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Source: Black Past
Jan
1
1863
Oliver W.Hill
Oliver W. Hill elected to Richmond, Va., City Council.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
9
1948
Ragsdale, Marguerita (1948- )
Marguerita Dianne Ragsdale was born in April 1948 in Richmond, Virginia to Lillie and Vernon Ragsdale and raised alongside her five sisters on a farm in McKenney, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. After starting her undergraduate work at Virginia State University in Petersburg, she transferred to
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Source: Black Past
Bonnie Logan
Bonnie Logan was the first black tennis player on the Virginia Slims Tour.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Jan
0
2000
(1837) William Whipper, “Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression”
? Few Americans are aware of the deep roots of peace activism in the African American community. Benjamin Banneker, the 18th Century mathematician and astronomer, recommended that a “Secretary of Peace” be added to the President’s cabinet whose chief function would be to craft measu
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Source: Black Past
Sep
9
2016
William "Bill" Richmond exits from retirement tofight an impromptu bout with J
William Bill Richmond exits from retirement to fight an impromptu bout with Jack Carter; he KOs Carter in three rounds; there is no record of Richmond fighting again.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1818
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was an American jazz icon of the 20th century. She was born on April 25, 1917 in Virginia to William and Temperance Fitzgerald. The couple separated soon after Ella’s birth, and Temperance moved to New York with her boyfriend, Joseph De Silva. She had a half sister named
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Source: Black History Resources
Jun
15
1996
Thaddeus Stevens a Powerful U.S. Congressman
Thaddeus Stevens, powerful U.S. congressman, urged confiscation of estates of Confederate leaders and the distribution of land to adult freedmen in forty-acre lots.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
6
1865
Did You Know That In...
1642 - Virginia passes a fugitive slave order punishing anyone who assists a runaway slave.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1642
54th Massachusetts Infantry (1863-1865)
The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry was the first Northern black volunteer regiment enlisted to fight in the Civil War.  Its accomplished combat record led to the general recruitment of African-Americans as soldiers. They ultimately comprised ten percent of Union Army and Navy.  The
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Source: Black Past
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