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 – Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was born.
May 26, 1961 – Marvin Cook, first black envoy named by Kennedy Administration to an African nation, was named ambassador to Niger Republic.
May 27, 1919 – Madame C.J. Walker, cosmetics manufacturer and first black female millionaire, died.
May 28, 1948 – National Party wins whites-only election in South Africa and began to institute the policy of apartheid.
