Do you know that September Black History also includes:
16th – France abolished slavery in all its territories (1848); the first Catholic seminary for Black priests was dedicated in Bay St. Louis, MS (1923); Jon Hendricks was born (1921); Riley ‘B.B.’ King was born (1925); “Emperor Jones” staring Paule Robeson, and the first Hollywood film with a Black leading man and a white supporting case was released (1933); Elgin Baylor was born (1934); President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Service Act, which allowed Black people to enter all branches of the US Military Service (1940); Debbye Turner became the 3rd Black woman to be crowned Miss America (1989);
17th - The United States Constitution was approved with three clauses allowing for the continuation of slavery even though it was supposed to be a document of freedom (1787); Harriet Tubman made her first attempt to liberate herself from the bonds of slavery (1849); Hampton Institute (now University) was founded (1861); The “Flip Wilson Show” premiered on NBC (1970); Illinois became the first state to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a state holiday (1973); Vanessa Williams was crowned the first Black Miss America (1983);
18th - Booker T. Washington delivered the Atlanta Exposition speech (1895); Brook Benton -aka- Benjamin Franklin Peay was born (1931); Jimi Hendrix succumbed (1970);
19th - Elbert R. Robinson received the patent on the electric highway trolley (1893); Joe Morgan was born (1943); the First International Conference of Blac Writers and Artists was held in Paris (1956);
20th – A boycott of slave produced goods was called during the First National Convention for Free Men (1830); Alfre Woodard won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Performance (1987);
21st - General Andrew Jackson honored Black troops who fought in the Battle of New Orleans (1815); FW Leslie patented the envelope seal (1891); John Henry Conyers became the first Black student at Annapolis Naval Academy (1872);
22nd - Emancipation Proclamation announced (1862); George Washington Murray was born (1853); Ralph Bunche became the first Black person to receive a Nobel Prize (1950);
23rd – Mary Church Terrel was born (1863); J.W. Reed patented the Dough Kneader and Roller and became the first Black woman to receive a US patent (1884); John Coltrane was born (1926); Ray Charles was born (1930);
24th - Federal troops enforce court-ordered integration of Central High School, Little Rock, AR (1957); John T. Walker installed as the first Black bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (1977);
25th - Peter “The Black Prince” Jackson won the Australian heavyweight title and became the first Black man to win a national boxing crown (1886); Barbara Hancock became the first Black woman named as a White House Fellow (1974);
26th - Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson and became the heavyweight boxing champion (1962); The Studio Museum of Harlem opened (1968); Serena Williams was born (1981);
27th - Hiram R. Revels, the first Black U.S. Senator, was born (1827); W.C. Handy published “Memphis Blues” (1912); Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, the only woman to pitch for the Negro Major League was born (1935); Charles H. Houston was awarded the Spingarn Medal for his pioneering work in developing the NAACP legal campaign (1950);
28th – The National Baptist Convention was organized (1895); Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began holding a series of meetings of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1959); Althea Gibson succumbed (2003);
29th - The National Urban League was founded (1910); the first Black-owned television station in the US, WGPR-TV Detroit, began broadcasting (1975); Alex English was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (1997); and
30th - John “Johnny” Royce Mathis was born (1935); James Meredith enrolled as the first Black at the University of Mississippi (1962)?
