May 16, 1927 – William Harry Barnes became first African American certified by any American surgical board.
May 17, 1954 – U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education decision.
May 18, 1896 – In Plessy vs. Ferguson, Supreme Court upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal” in education and public accommodations.
May 19, 1925 – Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE.
May 20, 1961 – U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy dispatched U.S. Marshals to Montgomery, AL., to restore order in the “Freedom Rider” disturbance.
May 21, 1833 – African Americans enrolled for the first time at Oberlin College, OH.
May 22, 1921 – Shuffle Along, a musical featuring a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, opened on Broadway.
