January 30, 1979 – Franklin Thomas named president of Ford Foundation.
January 31, 1986 – August Wilson’s Fences, starring the late James Earl Jones, opened at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
February 1, 1902 – Playwright, poet, author Langston Hughes was born
February 2, 1807 – Congress banned foreign slave trade.
February 3, 1956 – Autherine Lucy enrolled as the first African American student at the University of Alabama.
February 4, 1913 – Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who sparked Montgomery bus boycott, was born.
February 5, 1934 – Major league home run champion Hank Aaron was born.
