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Lawrence Douglas Wilder of Virginia is inaugurated as the first African American
Lawrence Douglas Wilder of Virginia is inaugurated as the first African American to be elected governor in the U.S. Wilder won the election in Virginia by a mere 7,00 votes in a state once the heart of the Confederacy.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Jan
13
1990
Morgan v. Virginia (1946)
March 27, 1946, Argued
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Palmer, Larry L. (1949- )
On November 1, 2011, President Barack H. Obama appointed Larry L. Palmer the United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. On March 30, 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed Palmer’s nomination and he reported to his post in Bridgetown, Barbados. Born in Augusta, Georgia, on July
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
White, V. Ethel Willis (1920-2003)
Theendowment named in honor of V Ethel Willis White is unusual in that the person honoredwas not a wealthy woman in the usual sense of the word.  Instead V Ethel Willis White’s wealth derivedfrom her inspiration to
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Source: Black Past
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
C.R. Patterson & Sons Company (1893-1939)
The C.R. Patterson & Sons Company was a carriage building firm, and the first African American-owned automobile manufacturer. The company was founded by Charles Richard Patterson, who was born into slavery in April 1833 on a plantation in Virginia. His parents were Nancy and Charles
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Taylor, Francis Xavier (1948 – )
Francis Xavier Taylor is a senior military leader, intelligence and security expert, and American diplomat.  Born in Washington, D.C., on October 22, 1948, Taylor was raised by his mother Virginia Taylor, who worked as an administrator in the Department of the Army. When he later enrolled at the
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Source: Black Past
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
Liberty Life Insurance Company (Chicago)
Liberty Life Insurance Company (Chicago), the first old-line legal reserve company organized by Blacks in the North, incorporated. U.S. Supreme Court (Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia) banned segregation in interstate bus travel.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
3
1919
“Going South: William Fontaine’s Trip to Virginia, 1948”
In the following article drawn from his book, Black Philosopher, White Academy: The Career of William Fontaine, University of Pennsylvania historian Bruce Kuklick introduces us to the world of  philosopher William Fontaine, one of the few African American faculty members at an Ivy League
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Anderson, Samuel "Sambo" (? -1845)
Samuel “Sambo” Anderson was one of the enslaved people on George Washington’s Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon. The early history of Anderson is unclear but what is known is Anderson was from what is now the west African nation of Guinea.  Anderson claimed to have been part of a royal
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Source: Black Past
Feb
20
1845
Virginia law declares that all non-Christians imported toits territory are to
Virginia law declares that all non-Christians imported to its territory are to be slaves for life; removes voting rights from recently freed slaves and indentured servants.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1670
Henderson v. United States Et. Al. (1950)
April 3, 1950, Argued
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
A virginia law authorizes branding both white andblack runaway servants.
A virginia law authorizes branding both white and black runaway servants.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1641
Farley, James Conway (1854- 1910?)
James Conway Farley, the first African American to achieve prominence in the photography industry, was born on August 10, 1854 to slave parents in Prince Edwards County, Virginia. After his father died, he and his mother moved to Richmond in 1861. The sources are unclear as to whether Farley and
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Source: Black Past
Dec
10
1876
Jacobs, Harriet (c.1815-1897)
Born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, Harriet Ann Jacobs was the daughter of slaves, Delilah and Daniel Jacobs.  Harriet Jacobs is best known for her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, edited by white abolitionist Lydia Maria Child, and published in 1852.   Using the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
What Comes Naturally: The Loving v. Virginia Case in Historical Perspective
When Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter decided to get married in June 1958, laws banning interracial marriage had been in effect for nearly three centuries.  The colonies of Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts had banned intermarriage in 1664, 1691, and 1705.  After the American Revolution, states
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Source: Black Past
Jun
12
1967
The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed | An Online Reference Guide to African American History by Professor Quintard Taylor, University of Washington
Home
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Source: Black Past
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
WARREN, C.J., Opinion of the Court
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Source: Black Past
Virginia repeals earlier statue enfranchising blackswho convert to Christianit
Virginia repeals earlier statue enfranchising blacks who convert to Christianity.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1667
Buchanan v. Warley (1917)
Buchanan v. Warley
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Source: Black Past
(1898) Rev. Francis J. Grimke, “The Negro Will Never Acquiesce As Long As He Lives,”
On November 20, 1898, Reverend Francis J. Grimke, pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C., delivered a sermon in which he denounced those African Americans who called for conservatism and accommodation. Grimke vowed that as long as African Americans were deprived of
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Nov
20
1898
True Reformers Bank, The (1888-1910)
The Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers was the first bank owned by African Americans in the United States. It was founded on March 2, 1888 by Reverend William Washington Browne and opened on April 3, 1889. Although the True Reformers bank was the first black-owned
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Source: Black Past
(1880) P.B.S. Pinchback, “Campaign Speech for GOP Presidential Candidate James G. Garfield."
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, the son of a white Mississippi planter and a former slave, was the first African American to serve as governor of a state when after the governor of Louisiana was impeached, he as Lt. Governor completed the 34 days left in his term (December 9, 1872 to January
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
The first Virginia legislative enactment making referenceto blacks states: "Al
The first Virginia legislative enactment making reference to blacks states: All persons except negroes are to be provided with arms and ammunition or be fined at the pleasure of governor and council.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1639
Welters, Beatrice W. (1951- )
On March 10, 2010, Beatrice Wilkinson Welters was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, having been named to that post by President Barack Obama.  Prior to that, she was a philanthropist and senior employee of IBM, where she worked from 1977 to
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Source: Black Past
Mar
10
2010
Rita Dove
Rita Dove is a professor of English at the University of Virginia. She is noted as winning the Pultizer Prize for the volume Thomas and Beulah. Born in 1952, she is still making an impact upon the literary world.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Jan
0
1952
Following the dwindling supply of indentured servants,the Virginia legislature
Following the dwindling supply of indentured servants, the Virginia legislature legally recognizes the institution of slavery in order to maintain needed labor on tobacco plantations.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1661
Kay, Ulysses S. (1917-1995)
Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr., was one of the leading black composers in the classical music industry in the 20th Century. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Kay grew up in a musically talented family. His mother, Elizabeth Kay, was a church pianist.  His step-brother played the violin and his step-sister played
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Source: Black Past
May
20
1995
Second Baptist Church, El Paso, Texas (1884- )
The Second Baptist Church, the oldest black Baptist church in El Paso, Texas, was established in 1884. The brick edifice that is its current home was erected between 1903 and 1907 at Second and Virginia Streets, standing at the intersection of the city’s Mexican American neighborhood, the black
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Aug
31
1924
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