This Week in Black History

June 17, 2021

 

June 17. 1775 – Minuteman Peter Salem Fights In The Battle Of Bunker Hill.

June 18, 1863 – The 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry attacks Fort Wagner, S.C.

June 19, 1865 – Blacks in Texas are notified of Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863. “Juneteenth,” marks the event.

June 20, 1953 – Albert W. Dent of Dillard University elected president of the National Health Council.

June 21, 1945 – Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first African American to command a U.S. Army Air Corps base.

June 22, 1897 – William Barry patents the postmarking and canceling machine.

June 23, 1940 – Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, winner of three gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics, born.