Know Your History!
Up to the early 20th century, most American knowledge of Black history was limited to the African American struggle through slavery and emancipation. The significance of Black history is recognition of the advancements and accomplishments of a group of people once defined by the Constitution as three-fifths of a person. While slavery in America hosts the background of Black history, the African American impact on history reaches beyond the country’s early history, as African Americans have made significant contributions to every field of endeavor, including politics, science, culture, social causes, arts, literature, athletics and the economy.
African-American Facts for Week of: January 24, 2016
January 24, 1993
Thurgood Marshall, dies
First Black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, dies, 1993. Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court’s 96th justice and its first African-American justice.
Before becoming a judge, Marshall was a lawyer who was best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education, a decision that desegregated public schools.
January 24, 1962
Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
January 25, 1851
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth addressed the first Black Women’s Rights Convention, Akron Ohio. Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist.
January 25, 1966
Constance Baker Motley
Constance Baker Motley became the first African-American woman to be appointed to a Federal Judgeship.
January 26, 1948
Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981, to end segregation in US Armed Forces is signed by President Harry Truman.
January 27, 1952
Ralph Ellison’s powerful novel, Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison’s powerful novel, Invisible Man, wins the National Book Award. Ralph Ellison was a American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer.
January 28, 1970
Arthur Ashe, first Black male to win Wimbledon
Arthur Ashe, first Black male to win Wimbledon, is denied entry to compete on the US Team for the South African Open tennis championships due to Ashe’s sentiments on South Africa’s racial policies.
January 29, 1913
Fiftieth Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation
Black Americans celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation. Major celebrations were held at Jackson, Mississippi, New Orleans and Nashville. Three states–Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey–appropriated money for official celebrations of the event.
January 30, 1844
Richard Theodore Greener
Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University
January 30, 1858
William Wells Brown, novelist and dramatist, publishes first Black
William Wells Brown, novelist and dramatist, publishes first Black drama, “Leap to Freedom”
January 30, 1956
Home of Martin Luther King Jr
Home of Martin Luther King Jr. Montgomery bus boycott leader bombed.
Knowing our own history, or the history of our culture, is important because it helps us to know who we are while molding the future. Being familiar with past events gives us the ability not only to learn from past mistakes but also from the successes.
To me, the omission of any group from history teachings results in a limited understanding of history’s relationship with the present and future. Know your history.
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