* Today in Black History - July 4 *
1776 - The Declaration of Independence is adopted. A section written by
Thomas Jefferson denouncing slavery is deleted.
1779 - Colonel Arent Schuyler De Puyster notes the presence of "Jean
Baptiste Point DuSable, a handsome Negro, well-educated and settled
at Eschikagou." It is the first recorded mention of "DuSable, who
settled the area that will become known as Chicago.
1827 - New York State abolishes slavery.
1845 - Wildfire Lewis is born in Greenwich, New York. After living with
Chippewa relatives, she will enroll in Oberlin College's preparatory
and college program. Changing her name to Mary Edmonia Lewis, she
will travel to Boston and abroad where she will become one of the
most outstanding sculptors of her day. Among her most famous works
will be "Forever Free," "Hagar in Her Despair in the Wilderness" and
"Death of Cleopatra."
1875 - White Democrats kill several African Americans in terrorist attacks
in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1881 - Tuskegee Institute opens in Tuskegee, Alabama, with Booker T. Washington
as its first president.
1892 - Arthur George Gaston is born in a log cabin, built by his grandparents,
former slaves, in Marengo County, Alabama, near Demopolis. He will
drop out of school after the tenth grade and will become one of the
most successful proponents of Booker T. Washington's brand of capitalism.
A Washington disciple as a child, Gaston became a self-made millionaire
and one of the richest African American men in America in the 1950s. His
many businesses thrived on the social separateness legislated by the Jim
Crow laws in segregated Alabama. Gaston will make it his personal mission
to urge African Americans to seek "green power," a term he remembered
Washington using. His quiet role in the civil right movement was also
noted, saying once that African Americans needed a Martin Luther King, Jr.
of economics to fire them up the way King had about integration. Gaston
made the following statement that summed up his position on economic
empowerment for people of color -- "It doesn't do any good to arrive at
first-class citizenship, if you arrive broke." He will live to the age of
103.
1910 - Jack Johnson KOs James Jeffries in 15 rounds, ending Jeffries' come-back try.
1938 - Bill Withers, rhythm & blues singer ("Lean on Me"), is born in West Virginia.
1959 - The Cayman Islands, separated from Jamaica, are made a British Crown Colony.
1963 - Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche receive the first Medals of Freedom from
President John F. Kennedy, the creator of the award.
1970 - 100 persons are injured in racially motivated disturbances in Asbury Park,
New Jersey.
1990 - "2 Live Crew" release "Banned in the USA"; the lyrics quote "The Star
Spangled Banner" & "The Gettysburg Address."
1991 - The National Civil Rights Museum officially opens at the Lorraine Motel in
Memphis, Tennessee, the site of the assassination of civil rights leader
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1994 - Rwandan Tutsi rebels seize control of most of their country's capital,
Kigali, and continue advancing on areas held by the Hutu-led government.
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