Our History

July 24, 1807 – Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge, was born in New York City. July 25, 1916 – Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas mask, rescued six people from a gas-filled tunnel in Cleveland, OH. July 26, 1948 – President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U.S. armed forces. July 27, 1880 – Alexander P. Ashbourne patented … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – July 24, 2025

July 10, 1875 – Educator Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman College, was born. July 11, 1905 – W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter organized the Niagara Movement, which demanded abolition of all race distinctions. July 12, 1949 – Frederick M. Jones patented the air-conditioning unit used in food transportation vehicles. July 13, 1965 – Thurgood … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – July 10, 2025

July 3, 1688 – The Quakers in Germantown, PA, made the first formal protest against slavery. July 4, 1900 – Trumpeter Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, jazz pioneer, born. July 5, 1892 – Andrew J. Beard patented the rotary engine. July 6, 1957 – Althea Gibson won women’s singles title at Wimbledon, becoming first African American to win tennis’s most prestigious award. … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – July 3, 2025

June 26, 1975 – Samuel Blanton Rosser became the first African American certified in pediatric surgery. June 27, 1991 – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall announced his retirement. June 28, 1864 – Fugitive slave laws were repealed by Congress. June 29 1886 – Photographer James Van Der Zee was born. June 30, 1921 – Charles S. Gilping awarded the Spingarn … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – June 26, 2025

June 19, 1865 – Blacks in Texas were notified of Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863. “Juneteenth,” marks the event. June 20, 1953 – Albert W. Dent of Dillard Universaity was elected president of the National Health Council. June 21, 1945 – Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., became first African American to command a U.S. Army Air Corps base. June 22, 1897 – … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – June 19, 2025

June 12, 1963 – Medgar W. Evers, civil rights leader, was assassinated in Jackson, MS. June 13, 1967 – Thurgood Marshall nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson. June 14, 1864 – Congress ruled that African American soldiers must receive equal pay. June 15, 1913 – Dr. Effie O’Neal, first black woman to hold an executive position in the … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – June 12, 2025

June 5, 1987 – Dr. Mae C. Jemison became the first black female astronaut. June 6, 1831 – First annual “People of Color” convention held in Philadelphia. June 7, 1917 – Poetess Gwendolyn Brooks, first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry (in 1950), was born. June 8, 1953 – Supreme Court ruling banned discrimination in Washington, DC restaurants. … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – June 6, 2025

May 29, 1901 – Granville T. Woods patented the overhead conducting system for the electric railway. May 30, 1965 – Vivian Malone became the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama. May 31, 1870 – Congress passed the first Enforcement Act, providing stiff penalties for those who deprive others of their civil rights. June 1, 1968 – Henry … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – May 29, 2025

May 22, 1921 – "Shuffle Along," a musical featuring a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, opened on Broadway. May 23, 1900 – Sgt. William H. Carney became the first African American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor at Fort Wagner, SC, in 1863. May 24, 1854 – Lincoln University (PA), the first black college in the US, was founded. May 25, 1926 – … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History – May 22, 2025