Know Your History!
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 History for Week of: November 8, 2015Ā
The world’s fastest bicycle racer for 12 years, Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor
November 8, 1878
The world’s fastest bicycle racer for 12 years, Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor was born in Indianapolis, 1878.
Edward W. Brooke
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November 8, 1966
Edward W. Brooke (Republican, Massachusetts) elected to U.S. Senate and became the first Black senator since the Reconstruction era and the first Black senator elected by popular vote. Racial violence was reported in forty-three cities in 1966, with eleven killed, more than four hundred injured and three thousand arrested.
Medical School at Howard University opens with eight students, 1868
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November 9, 1868
Medical School at Howard University opens with eight students, 1868.
Roger Arliner Young
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November 9, 1964
Roger Arliner Young. Ms. Young was the first black woman to receive a doctoral degree in zoology, Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania in 1940. Ā
The Bethune Museum & Archives
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November 11, 1979
The Bethune Museum & Archives, a Depository and Center for African American Women’s History, is established in Washington, D.C.
First Black Mayor of New Orleans
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November 12, 1977
Ernest Nathan Morial was Elected the first Black Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana. Ernest Nathan Morial, known as Dutch Morial (October 9, 1929āDecember 24, 1989), was a U.S. political figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first black Mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986.
Sigma Gamma Rho, Sorority Inc. founded
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November 12, 1922
Seven black women in Indianapolis, Indiana founded Sigma Gamma Rho sorority based on a desire to raise the standards of teachers in normal and other schools. These individuals included Mary Lou Allison Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae Dublin Redford, Bessie M. Downey and Cubene McClure.
Supreme Court upheld lower court decision
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November 13, 1956
Supreme Court upheld lower court decision which banned segregation on city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Federal injunctions prohibiting segregation on the buses were served on city, state and bus company officials, December 20. At two mass meetings Montgomery Blacks called off year-long bus boycott. Buses were integrated on December 21.
First Black Elected Mayor of a Major City
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November 13, 1967
Being elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio made Carl Stokes the first Black to be elected mayor of a major city.
Educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute, Booker T Washington
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November 14, 1915
Educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute, Booker T Washington, dies, in 1915.
U.S. marshals and parents escorted four Black
November 14, 1960
U.S. marshals and parents escorted four Black girls to two New Orleans schools.
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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Twitter: @Annette92J