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March 1 Howard University, Washington DC, charted, 1867 |
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May 1 Gwendolyn Brooks, first Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry), 1950 Howard University chartered, 1867 May 2 First game of National Negro Baseball League played in Indianapolis, 1920 Elijah McCoy, inventor, held over 50 patents, born 1844-1929 May 3 May 4 CORE begins freedom rides from Washington, DC to force desegregation of southern bus terminals, 1961 May 5 Robert S. Abbott published first issue of the newspaper "Chicago Defender" 1905 May 6 First Black Masonic Lodge founded Prince Hall, Boston, 1787 May 7 William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation, 1700 The Liberty Ship George Washington Carver, named after the scientist, launched 1943 May 8 May 9 John Brown, abolitionist, born 1800 May 10 Smith v Allwright (excluding Blacks from primary voting is illegal), 1944 May 11 Ira Aldridge, Great 19th century Black actor, famous throughout the world, born 1807-1867 May 12 Segregated street cars integrated in Louisville, Ky., following sit-in staged by a Black teenager, 1871 May 13 Slavery abolished in Brazil, 1888 Joe Louis, world heavyweight boxing champion (1937-1949), born 1914 May 14 May 15 May 16 Sammy Davis, Jr, entertainer, dies (1925-1990) Denmark abolishes slave trade, 1792 May 17 School desegregation law, Brown v Board of education, 1957 May 18 May 19 Malcolm X, political and religious activist, born 1925-1965 May 20 Elias Neau founded school for slaves in New York, 1704 May 21 Leo Pinckney, the first American drafted during World War I, 1917 (Thomas) Fats Waller, Jazz pianist and composer, born 1904-1943 May 22 Claude McKay, Novelist and Poet, died 1948 Langston Hughes, poet laureate, died 1957 May 23 May 24 Lincoln University, Penn, the first Black college in the US founded by Prebyts, 1854 May 25 Henry O. Tanner, artist, died 1859-1937 Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, dancer and entertainer, born in Richmond VA, 1878 May 26 May 27 Blind Tom Bethune, pianist and composer, born 1849 Victoria E Matthews, educator, born in New York, 1861 - 1898 May 28 Eliza Ann Gardner, underground railway conductor, born 1831 May 29 May 30 Countee Cullen, poet, born in Baltimore, 1903 May 31 National Negro Committee (now NAACP) held first conference, New York, 1909 June 1 Sojourner Truth begins travel as abolitionist speaker, 1843 Slavery abolished in all US possessions, 1862 June 2 Harriet Tubman led Union Army freedom fighters into Maryland, freeing more than 700 slaves, 1863 James Augustine Healey became the first Black Catholic Bishop in the US, 1875 June 3 Dr Charles Richard Drew, pioneer of blood plasma research, born, 1904-1950 Poor Peoples March on Washington, 1968 June 4 Mississippi Valley State University founded 1951 June 5 June 6 First annual convention of "people of color" held in Philadelphia 1831 Stokely Carmichael launched "Black Power" movement, 1966 June 7 Gwendolyn Brooks, poet, born 1917 Mary Church Terrell wins struggle to end segregation in Washington DC restaurants, 1953 June 8 Homer A Plessy refused to move to segregated railroad coach in New Orleans, initiating Plessy v Ferguson, 1892 First Civil Rights Act passed, 1886 June 9 June 10 Richard Allen founded the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, 1794 Hattie McDaniel, first Black person ever to win an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress, Gone With The Wind, in 1940), born 1898-1952 June 11 June 12 Medgar Evers, civil rights activist, assassinated 1926-1963 June 13 Oscar J Dunn elected Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, 1868 Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court, 1967 June 14 Harriet Beecher Stowe, White abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, born 1811-1896 Congress ruled that Black soldiers must receive equal pay, 1864 June 15 Henry O Flippea became the first Black graduate of West Point, 1877 Congress of racial Equality (CORE), founded 1943 Josiah Henson, abolitionist [born? died?] 1789-1883 June 16 Denamrk Vessy led slave rebellion in South Carolina, 1822 June 17 James Weldon Johnson, writer poet, first Black admitted to Florida Bar, co-author of "Lift Every Voice And Sing" (Black National Anthem), born 1871-1938 June 18 Slave revolt leaders Denmark Vesey and Peter Poyas arrested in Charleston, SC, 1822 Nannie Burroughs founded national training School for Women, 1909 June 19 Tennessee University opened as Tennessee A and L State College, 1912 JUNTEENTH DAY CELEBRATION June 20 Dr Lloyd A Hall, pioneer in food chemistry, born Illinois, 1894 June 21 Henry O Tanner, artist, born 1859-1937 June 22 WEB DuBois becomes first Black member of National Institute of Letters, 1943 June 23 Wilma Rudolph, former polio victim who became the world famous track star, winning three gold medals in the Olympic Games, born 1940. June 24 June 25 Fair Employment Practices Commission established 1941 Abraham Lincoln signed bill providing schools for Black children [no date given] June 26 Blacks and Whites riot over racial segregation in St. Augustine 1964 June 27 Paul Lawrence Dunbar, poet and novelist, born 1872-1906 June 28 Supreme Court handed down Bakke decision, affecting racial quotas in education and industry, 1978 June 29 Carter Woodson wins Springarn Medal for his research of Black history, 1926 June 30 |
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| July 1 July 2 Vermont became the first US territory to abolish slavery, 1777 Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, born in Baltimore 1908 Civil Rights Act passed, 1964 July 3 July 4 Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, trumpet king, born 1900 Booker T Washington opened Tuskegee Institute in Alabama 1881 July 5 July 6 July 7 Althea Gibson won women's single tennis championship at Wimbledon, 1957 July 8 July 9 Dr Daniel Hale Williams (1858-1931) performed first successful open heart surgery at Provident Hospital in Chicago, 1893 July 10 Mary McLeod Bethune, educator, born 1875-1955 July 11 Niagra Movement founded by WEB DuBois, 1905 July 12 George Washington Carver, noted scientist, born 1864 July 13 Congress outlawed slavery in Northwest Territory, 1787 July 14 July 15 Public schools for Blacks open in Philadelphia, 1822 July 16 V.A. Johnson, first Black female to practice before US Supreme Court, born 1882 July 17 July 18 Lemuel Haynes, first Black to serve as minister to a White congregation, born 1753 July 19 July 20 July 21 National Association of Colored Women founded by Mary Church Terrell in Washington DC, 1896 July 22 President Lincoln read first draft of Emancipation Proclamation to Cabinet, 1861 July 23 Louis Tompkins Wright, physician, born 1891 - 1952 July 24 July 25 Charles Cordone won Pulitzer Prize for his play "No Place to Be Somebody" 1970 First warship named for a Black person, the SS Leonard Roy Harmon, launched in Quincy Mass, 1943 July 26 July 27 July 28 The 14th Amendment, making Blacks American citizens, adopted 1868 July 29 First National Convention of Black Women held in Boston Mass, 1895 July 30 July 31 Whitney Young, former Executive Director of the National Urban League, born 1921 Father Patrick Francis Healy, first Black man to receive a PhD, named President of Georgetown University, 1874 August 1 Slavery declared unlawful in British Empire, 1834 Benjamin E Mays High School educator and former President of Morehouse college, born 1895 August 2 James Baldwin, writer, born NY 1924 Marcus Garvey presented his "Back To Africa" program in New York City, 1920 August 3 August 4 Dr Daniel H Williams, pioneer in surgery, died 1931 Henry A Rucker appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for Georgia 1897 August 5 James A Healy, first Black bishop in America, born 1830 August 6 Voting Rights Bill signed by President Lyndon Johnson 1965 August 7 Ralph J Bunche, diplomat and winner of Nobel Peace Prize, born 1904-1971 August 8 August 9 Mattheco Henson, first Black to reach North Pole, born 1866 Jesse Owens wins four gold medals in Berlin, 1936 August 10 Ira Aldridge, famed Shakespearean actor, dies 1867 August 11 J Rosamond Johnson, author, actor and co-composer (with his James Weldon Johnson) of "Lift Every Voice And Sing", born in Jacksonville FL, 1873-1954 Watts Riots in Southeast LA, 1965 August 12 Dedication of Frederick Douglas' home in Washington DC as national shrine, 1922 August 13 First issue of Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper, 1892 August 14 Ernest E Just, biologist and pioneer of cell division, born 1883-1941 August 15 Freed American slaves established country of Liberia, on the West coast of Africa, 1824 August 16 Louis E Lomax, author, born 1922-1970 August 17 WB Purvis patented the electric railway switch, 1897 Marcus Garvey, Black Nationalist, born 1887-1940 August 18 August 19 Benjamin Banneker published his first Almanac, 1791 NAACP Youth Council begins sit-ins at lunch counters, Oklahoma City, 1963 August 20 Wilberforce University established in Ohio, 1856 First Black slaves brought by the Dutch to the colony of Jamestown, 1619 August 21 William Count Basie, jazz pianist, big band and orchestra leader, born in Red Bank NJ, 1904 Nat Turner began revolt in Southampton, VA, 1831 August 22 Fisk University established, 1867 August 23 National Negro Business League, founded 1900 August 24 Edith Sampson, first Black delegate to United Nations appointed by President Harry S. Truman, 1950 August 25 Althea Gibson, tennis champion, born in South Carolina, 1927 National Association of Colored Nurses, founded 1908 August 26 August 27 W. E. B. DuBois, editor author and civil rights leader dies in Ghana, 1963 August 28 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers "I Have A Dream" speech at Lincoln Memorial, 1963 March On Washington, 1963 August 29 Sheridan Broadcasting Corp purchases Mutual Black Network, making it the first completely Black owned radio network in the world, 1979 E. Franklin Frazier, sociologist, born 1894-1962 August 30 Roy Wilkins, 2nd Executive Director of NAACP, born 1901-1981 Gabriel Prosser's slave revolt is betrayed, Virginia, 1800 August 31 |
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September 1 Robert T Freeman was the first Black to graduate from Harvard Dental School, 1867 September 2 September 3 Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery disguised as a sailor, 1838 September 4 Lewis H Latimer, inventor and engineer, born 1848-1928 September 5 John W Cromwell, Sec. American Negro Academy, born 1846 George Washington Murray elected to Congress from South Carolina, 1895 September 6 September 7 Integration began in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD public schools, 1954 September 8 Roy Wilkins, second Executive Director of NAACP, dies 1901-1981 September 9 Richard Wright, noted author of Native Son and Black Boy, born 1908-1960 Association for the study of Negro Life and History founded by Carter G Woodson, 1915 September 10 Congressman John R Lynch presided over the Republican National Convention, 1884 September 11 "Duke" Ellington won Springarn Medal for his musical achievements, 1959 September 12 September 13 Lewis Latimer invented and patented an electric lamp with a carbon filament, 1881 Alain L Lovke, philosopher, born 1886-1954 September 14 Kemetworld.com was born for black people all over the world, 2005 President FD Roosevelt signed Selective Service Act, allowing Blacks to enter all branches of the US Military Service, 1940 September 15 The first National Negro Convention began in Philadelphia, 1830 September 16 Slavery abolished in all French territories, 1848 Claude A Barnett founded Associated Negro Press, born 1889 September 17 Hampton Institute founded, 1861 September 18 Congress passed Fugitive Slave Law as part of the Compromise of 1850 September 19 Atlanta University founded 1865 September 20 First Negro Convention of Free Men agreed to boycott slave-produced goods, 1830 September 21 Atlanta Life Insurance Co founded, 1905 September 22 Xavier University, first Black Catholic College in US, opened in New Orleans, LA, 1915 September 23 Mary Church Terrell, civil rights activist, born 1863-1954 September 24 Desegregation of Central High School, Little Rock Ark, 1957 September 25 Secretary of Navy authorized enlistment of slaves as Union sailors, 1861 September 26 Maggie L Walker, business and civic leader, first Black president in US, born 1867-1934 September 27 WC Handy published "Memphis Blues" the first Blues Song, 1912 September 28 September 29 WGPR-TV Detroit, first Black-owned station in US, began broadcasting in 1975 President John F. Kennedy authorized use of federal troops in integration of University of Mississippi, 1962 September 30 October 1 James Meredith became first Black student at University of Mississippi--after 3000 federal troops quelled riots against his admission, 1962 Morgan State College founded in Maryland, 1872 October 2 Freedom fightet Nat Turner born 1800 Thurgood Marshall sworn in as the first Black Supreme Court Justice, 1967 Robert H Lawerence, astronaut, 1935-1967 October 3 Bethune-Cookman College opened in Daytona Beach FL, 1904 October 4 October 5 Autherine Lucy Foster born in 1929. Yvonne Braithwaite Burk born in 1932. October 6 Fannie Lou Hamer, freedom fighter, born 1917 October 7 William Sill, with The Underground Railroad, born 1821 - 1902 October 8 October 9 Frank Robinson became the first Black major league baseball manager (Cleveland Indians), 1974 October 10 October 11 A. Miles patented the elevator, 1887 NAACP organized the Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1939 October 12 Lincoln University founded, 1854 Rita Frazier Normandeau of NYC born 1946 Newport News, VA October 13 Garrett Morgan invented and patented the gas mask, 1914 Edith Sampson, first Black female US delegate to the United Nations, born 1901 Arna W Bontemps noted poet and librarian of Fisk University, born 1902 - 1973 October 14 Harry Blair received a patent for his corn planting machine, 1834 October 14 Martin Luther King Jr. is the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. October 15 October 16 Harpers Ferry Insurrection, 1859 October 17 First bank for blacks organized: The Capital Savings of Washington, D.C. October 18 Paul Robeson won Spingarn Medal for his singing and acting achievements, 1945 October 19 US Navy opened to Black women, 1944 Henry O Tanner, painter, won Medal of Honor at Paris Exposition, 1900 Byrd Prillerman, co-founder of West Virginia State College, born 1859 October 20 NC Mutual Life Insurance Company organized, 1898 October 21 October 22 October 23 October 24 October 25 Benjamin O Davis Dr became the first Black general in US Army, 1940 October 26 Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, born 1911 - 1972 October 27 Ruby Dee born in 1927. October 28 October 29 Supreme Court ordered end to all school desegregation "at once", 1969 October 30 October 31 |
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November 1 First issue of Ebony magazine published by John H Johnson, 1945 Original compilation is by a High School mentioned as one of the events. |
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