* Today in Black History - December 18 *
1852 - George H. White is born in Rosindale, North Carolina. He will
become a lawyer, state legislator, and in 1896, the only
African American member of the United States House of
Representatives, where he will be the first to introduce an
anti-lynching bill. White will also found the town of Whitesboro,
New Jersey, as a haven for African Americans escaping southern
racism.
1859 - South Carolina declares itself an "independent commonwealth."
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE CONFEDERACY: The Confederacy is the
first to recognize that African Americans are major factors in
the war. The South impresses slaves to work in mines, repair
railroads and build fortifications, thereby releasing a
disproportionately large percentage of able-bodied whites for
direct war service. A handful of African Americans enlisted in
the rebel army, but few, if any, fired guns in anger. A regiment
of fourteen hundred free African Americans received official
recognition in New Orleans, but was not called into service. It
later became, by a strange mutation of history, the first
African American regiment officially recognized by the Union
army.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE UNION NAVY: One out of every four Union
sailors was an African American. Of the 118,044 sailors in the
Union Navy, 29,511 were African Americans. At least four
African American sailors won Congressional Medals of Honor.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE UNION ARMY: The 185,000 Black soldiers
in the Union army were organized into 166 all Black regiments
(145 infantry, 7 cavalry, 12 heavy artillery, 1 light artillery,
1 engineer). The largest number of African American soldiers
came from Louisiana (24,052), followed by Kentucky (23,703)
and Tennessee (20,133). Pennsylvania contributed more African
American soldiers than any other Northern state (8,612). African
American soldiers participated in 449 battles, 39 of them major
engagements. Sixteen Black soldiers received Congressional
Medals of Honor for gallantry in action. Some 37,638 African
American soldiers lost their lives during the war. African
American soldiers generally received poor equipment and were
forced to do a large amount of fatigue duty. Until 1864,
African American soldiers (from private to chaplain) received
seven dollars a month whereas white soldiers received from
thirteen to one hundred dollars a month. In 1863 African American
units, with four exceptions (Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, Fifty-
fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers and Twenty-ninth
Connecticut Volunteers), were officially designated United States
Colored Troops (USCT). Since the War Department discouraged
applications from African Americans, there were few commissioned
officers. The highest ranking of the seventy-five to one hundred
African American officers was Lt. Col. Alexander T. Augustana, a
surgeon. Some 200,000 African American civilians were employed
by the Union army as laborers, cooks, teamster and servants.
1865 - Congress proclaims the ratification of the thirteenth Amendment to
the Constitution, abolishing slavery. The ratification process
had been completed on December 6, 1865.
1917 - Ossie Davis is born in Cogdell, Georgia. While he will be best
known as an actor in such plays as "Jeb" (where he will meet
his wife, Ruby Dee) and "Purlie Victorious" and films like
"Let's Do It Again," "Do The Right Thing," and "Jungle Fever,"
he will be a playwright, screenwriter, and director(Cotton Comes
to Harlem). In 1969, he will win an Emmy for his role in
"Teacher, Teacher" and will be a featured performer in
television's "Evening Shade."
1958 - Niger gains autonomy within the French Community of Nations.
1961 - Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 78
points vs the Los Angeles Lakers.
1964 - Funeral services are held in Chicago for Sam Cooke. Hundreds
of fans will cause damage to the A.R. Leak Funeral Home, where
Cooke's body is on display.
1971 - Jesse Jackson announces the formation of Operation Push (People
United to Save Humanity), a new African-American political and
economic development organization. Jackson, who resigned from
Operation Breadbasket, the economic arm of the SCLC, says, "the
problems of the 1970's are economic so the solution and goal
must be economic."
1971 - The NAACP's Spingarn Medal is presented to Rev. Leon H. Sullivan,
founder of Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America
(OIC) for his leadership.
1989 - Ernest Dickerson wins the New York Film Critics Circle Award for
best cinematography for the movie "Do the Right Thing."
1996 - The Oakland, California School board becomes the first in the
nation to recognize Black english, a.k.a. Ebonics, as a separate
language, NOT a dialect or slang.
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