*               Today in Black History - March 1                *

1780 - Pennsylvania becomes the first state to abolish slavery.

1841 - Blanche Kelso Bruce, the first African American to serve a full
        term in the United States Senate, is born a slave in Prince
        Edward County, Virginia.

1864 - Rebecca Lee graduates from the New England Female Medical
        College.  She, along with Rebecca Cole and Susan McKinney, is
        one of the first African American female physicians.

1871 - James Milton Turner is named minister to Liberia and becomes the
        first African American diplomat accredited to an African
        country.  James W. Mason was named minister in March, 1870, but
        never took his post.

1875 - The Civil Rights Bill is passed by Congress. The bill, which
        gives African Americans equal rights in inns, theaters, public
        transportation, and other public amusements, will be overturned
        by the Supreme Court in 1883.

1914 - Ralph Waldo Ellison, who will become the author of "Invisible
        Man" (winner of the 1952 National Book Award), is born in
        Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1927 - Harry Belafonte is born in New York City. He will become a
        successful folk singer, actor, and winner of the first Emmy
        awarded to an African American.  His commitment to civil and
        human rights will lead him to march with Martin Luther King,
        Jr. in Montgomery, Selma, and Washington, DC.  Among his
        achievements will be Kennedy Center Honors in 1989.

1933 - Merlie Evers-Williams is born.  She will become the wife of
        Medgar Evers, who will be murdered by Byron de la Beckwith.  She
        will later become a civil rights activist and the first woman to
        head the NAACP.

1949 - Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxing champion after holding
        the title for a record eleven years and eight months.

1960 - Four national chain stores announce on October 17 that counters
        in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North Carolina, Virginia,
        West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland,
        Florida and Oklahoma have been integrated.

        The Alabama State Board of Education expells nine Alabama State
        students for participating in sit-in demonstrations.

        Montgomery, Alabama, police break up a protest demonstration on
        the Alabama State University campus and arrest thirty-five
        students, a teacher and her husband.

        San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first major Southern city to
        integrate lunch counters.

        Pope John elevates Bishop Laurian Rugambwa of Tanganyika to the
        College of Cardinals, the first cardinal of African descent in
        the modern era.

1963 - Carl T. Rowan is named United States ambassador to Finland.

1967 - The House of Representatives votes to expel Adam Clayton Powell,
        Jr. from the 90th Congress.

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        The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
        "InfoBeat," "I, Too, Sing America - The African American
        Book of Days," and independent research by the
        Information Man.
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