* Today in Black History - May 15 *
1795 - John Morront, the first African American missionary to
work with Indians, is ordained as a Methodist minister in
London, England.
1802 - Jean Ignace joins the ancestors in Baimbridge, Guadeloupe.
He dies in the revolt against the Napoleonic troops sent to
the Caribbean island to reimpose slavery.
1891 - The British Central African Protectorate (now Malawi) is
established.
1918 - In a World War I incident that will later be known as "The
Battle of Henry Johnson," the African American attacks
advancing Germans, frees sentry Needham Roberts, and forces
the retreat of the enemy troops. Johnson and Roberts will
be awarded the Croix de Guerre, France's highest military
award. They are the first Americans ever to win the award.
1923 - "The Chip Woman's Fortune" by Willis Richardson opens at
the Frazee Theatre on Broadway. The play, staged by the
Ethiopian Art Theatre of Chicago, is the first dramatic
work by an African American playwright to be presented on
Broadway.
1934 - Alvin Francis Poussaint is born in the village of East
Harlem in New York City. After being educated at Columbia
College, Cornell University Medical School, and the
University of California's Neuropsychiatric Institute, he
will become a psychiatrist and educator specializing in
African American psychological and social issues. He will
begin his career teaching at Tufts Medical School and
Harvard Medical School. He will then join Operation Push.
He will be a consultant for the television series, "The
Cosby Show" and "A Different World, hired to ensure that
the story lines present positive images of African
Americans. He will later become Associate Dean and
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (1993).
1938 - Diane Nash is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will become
an civil rights activist and one of the founders of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960. She
will be part of the first group of civil rights activists
who will refuse to pay bail for protesting under the "Jail,
No Bail" strategy employed in the South. She will later
marry fellow civil rights activist James Bevel and take his
last name as her middle name. She and her husband will
receive the Rosa Parks award from the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference in 1965.
1942 - The 93rd Infantry is activated at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
It is the first African American division formed during
World War II and is assigned to combat duty in the South
Pacific.
1946 - Camilla Williams appears in the title role of Madame
Butterfly with the New York City Opera. She is the first
African American female concert singer to sign a contract
with a major American opera company.
1953 - Former Heavyweight Champion, Jersey Joe Walcott, is
knocked out by Rocky Marciano at Chicago Stadium at two
minutes, 25 seconds of the first round.
1970 - Two African American students (Phillip Lafayette Gibbs
and James Earl Green) at Jackson State University in
Mississippi are killed when police open fire during
student protests.
1983 - James VanDerZee joins the ancestors in Washington, DC at
the age of 96. He had been a prominent photographer who
recorded and contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. Over
his long career, which extended into his 90s, he captured
the images of many famous African Americans.
1992 - Mary M. Monteith (later Simpkins) joins the ancestors in
Columbia, South Carolina. She was a civil right activist
who had been a state secretary of the NAACP and
instrumental in the fight to desegregate South Carolina
public schools.
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