Black History

December 22, 1943 – W.E. B. DuBois becomes the first African American elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. December 23, 1869 – Madam C.J. Walker, businesswoman and first African American woman millionaire, born. December 24, 1832 – Charter granted to the Georgia Infirmary, the first black hospital. December 25, 1760 – Jupiter Hammon becomes first … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

December 15, 1883 – William A. Hinton, first African American on Harvard Medical School faculty and developer of the Hinton test to detect syphilis, born. December 15, 1994 – Ruth J. Simmons named president of Smith College. December 16, 1976 – Andrew Young nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. December 17, 1802 – Teacher and … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

December 8, 1925 – Entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr., born. December 9, 1872 – P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana becomes first African American governor in U.S. December 10, 1950 – Dr. Ralph J. Bunche becomes first black awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. December 11, 1938 – Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner born. December 12, 1899 – George F. Grant patents golf tree. December 12, … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

December 1, 1987 – Carrie Saxon Perry begins her term as the mayor of Hartford, CT, becoming first African American woman mayor of a major U.S. city. December 2, 1884 – Granville T. Woods patents telephone transmitter. December 3, 1847 – Frederick Douglass publishes first issue of North Star. December 4, 1909 – The New York Amsterdam News is founded by James A. … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

November 24, 1868 – Pianist Scott Joplin, the “Father of Ragtime”, born. November 25, 1975 – Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands. November 26, 1970 – Charles Gordone becomes the first Black playwright to receive the Pulitzer Prize (for No Place to Be Somebody). November 27, 1990 – Charles Johnson awarded National Book Award for fiction for Middle … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

November 17, 1980 – WHHM, the first African American operated radio station, goes on the air at Howard University. November 18, 1787 – Abolitionist and women’s right activist Sojourner Truth born. November 19, 1953 – Roy Campanella named Most Valuable Player in National League Baseball for the second time. November 20, 1865 – Howard Seminary (later Howard … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

November 3, 1981 – Thirman L. Milner elected mayor of Hartford, CT, becoming first black mayor in New England. November 4, 1879 – Thomas Elkins patents refrigeration apparatus. November 5, 1968 – Shirley Chisolm of Brooklyn, NY, becomes the first African American woman elected to Congress. November 6, 1901 – James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

October 13, 1579 – Martin de Porres, the first black saint in the Roman Catholic Church, born. October 14, 1964 – At age 35, Martin Luther King, Jr., becomes youngest man ever to win Nobel Peace Prize. October 15, 1991 – Clarence Thomas confirmed as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the second African American to serve on the court. October 16, 1995 – … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History

October 6, 1917 – Political activist Fannie Lou Hamer born. October 7, 1934 – Playwright-poet Amiri Baraka (Le- Roi Jones), author of Blues People: Negro Music in White America and The Motion of History, born. October 8, 1941 – Rev. Jesse Jackson born in Greenville, South Carolina. October 9, 1888 – O.B. Clare patents Trestle. October 10, 1899 – Isaac R. Johnson … [Read more...] about This Week In Black History