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.
African-American Facts for Week of: July 3, 2016
July 3, 1904
Charles Drew, Born
Dr. Charles Drew was born in Washington DC. Drew attended medical schools in Montreal, Canada. After much research and study, Drew discovered a way to preserve blood in the form of plasma so it could be stored for long periods of time.
July 3, 1775
Prince Hall Masonry Founded
Prince Hall founded Africa Lodge No. 1. It was the first Black Lodge of Free Masons in the United States.
July 4, 1881
Institutions of Higher Learning Established
Booker T. Washington established Tuskegee Institute. Also founded in 1881 were Spelman College, Morris Brown College, and Bishop College.
July 4, 1991
The National Civil Rights Museum Officially Opens
The National Civil Rights Museum officially opens at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., the site of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
July 5, 1975
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe makes history by becoming the first African American male to win the men’s single title at Wimbledon, defeating Jimmy Connors.
July 6, 1868
The 14th Amendment
On July 20, 1868, the 14th Amendment, validating citizenship rights for all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., was ratified.
July 6, 1854
South Carolina General Assembly Met
South Carolina General Assembly met in Janney’s Hall, Columbia, with eighty-five Black representatives and seventy white. There were ten Blacks and twenty-one whites in the senate and seventy-five Blacks and forty-nine whites in the house. This was the first and last American legislature with a Black majority. Robert Somers said later that the South Carolina Assembly was “a proletariat parliament the likes of which could not be produced under the widest suffrage in any part of the world save in some of these Southern states.”
July 7, 1906
Baseball great Satchel Paige born
Baseball legend Satchel Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama. Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who became a legend in his own lifetime by attracting record crowds wherever he pitched.
Paige was a right-handed pitcher, and at age 42 in 1948, he was the oldest major league rookie while playing for the Cleveland Indians. He played with the St. Louis Browns until age 47, and represented them in the All-Star Game in 1952 and 1953. He was the first player who had played in the Negro leagues to pitch in the World Series, in 1948, and was the first electee of the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1971.
July 8, 2001
Venus Williams wins her second straight Wimbledon
Venus Williams wins her second straight Wimbledon Women’s Singles Championship. Venus is the first woman to win consecutive Wimbledon Championships since 1995-96 and the first black woman to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958.
July 9, 1863
Union Troops entered Port Hudson
Union troops entered Port Hudson. With the fall of Vicksburg (on July 4) and Port Hudson, Union controlled Mississippi River and Confederacy was cut into two sections. Eight Black regiments played important roles in siege of Port Hudson.
July 9, 1955
1st Black to hold Executive Position in White House
E. Frederic Morrow appointed administrative aide to President Eisenhower and became the first Black to hold an executive position on the White House staff.
Too often America revels in its greatness but often fails to confront or come to grips with the darker moments of American history. Exploring African American history could allow America to lance the boil of the past and move towards healing.
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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