*               Today in Black History - March 4                *

1837 - The second major African American newspaper, the "Weekly Advocate"
        changes its name to the "Colored American."

1869 - The forty-second Congress convenes (1871-73) with five African
        American congressmen: Joseph H. Rainey, Robert Carlos Delarge,
        and Robert Brown Elliott from South Carolina; Benjamin S. Turner,
        of Alabama; Josiah T. Walls of Florida.  Walls is elected in an
        at-large election and is the first African American congressman
        to represent an entire state.

1889 - The fifty-first Congress convenes.  Three Black congressmen:
        Henry P. Cheatham of North Carolina; Thomas E. Miller of South
        Carolina; and John Mercer Langston of Virginia.

1897 - Willie Covan is born in Atlanta, Georgia.  He will become one of
        the earliest successful tap dancers, appearing in the original
        production of "Shuffle Along" as well as with the Four Covans.

1901 - The congressional term of George H. White, last of the post
        Reconstruction congressmen, ends.

1922 - Theater legend Bert Williams dies at the age of 46 in New York
        City.  He was considered the foremost African-American vaudeville
        performer, teaming first with George Walker in 1895, most notably
        in "In Dahomey," and later as a soloist with the Ziegfeld Follies.

1932 - Miriam Zensi Makeba, "Empress of African Song," is born in Prospect
        Township, South Africa.  Although exiled from her homeland, Makeba
        will become an internationally known singer and critic of apartheid.

1934 - Barbara McNair is born in Racine Wisconsin.  She will become a
        singer and actress, and will host her own television program (The
        Barbara McNair Show).

1944 - Bobby Womack is born in Cleveland, Ohio.  He will become a Rhythm
        & Blues performer and guitarist.

1954 - The first African American sub-cabinet member is appointed. President
        Eisenhower names J. Earnest Wilkins of Chicago as the U.S. Assistant
        Secretary of Labor.

1968 - Joe Frazier defeats Buster Mathis for the world heavyweight boxing
        championship by knockout in the eleventh round.

1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr. announces plans for the Poor People's
        Campaign in Washington, DC. He says that he will lead a massive
        civil disobedience campaign in the capital to pressure the government
        to provide jobs and income for all Americans.  He tells a press
        conference that an army of poor white, poor African Americans
        and Hispanics will converge on Washington on April 20 and will
        demonstrate until their demands were met.

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