May 18, 1896 – In Plessy vs. Ferguson, Supreme Court upholds the doctrine of “separate but equal” education and public accommodations.
May 19, 1925 – Malcolm X born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE.
May 20, 1961 – U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy dispatches U.S. Marshals to Montgomery, AL, to restore order in the “Freedom Rider” disturbance.
May 21, 1833 – African Americans enroll for the first time at Oberlin College in Ohio.
May 22, 1921 – Shuffle Along, a musical featuring a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, opens on Broadway.
May 23, 1900 – Sgt. William H. Carney becomes the first African American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor at Fort Wagner, SC, 1863.
May 24, 1854 – Lincoln University (PA), the first black college, is founded.
