* Today in Black History - April 6 *
1798 - James P. Beckwourth is born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He
will become a noted scout in the western United States and
will discover a pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains between
the Feather and Truckee rivers that will bear his name.
1830 - James Augustine Healy is born to an Irish planter and a
slave on a plantation near Macon, Georgia. He will become
the first African American Roman Catholic bishop in America.
1865 - Writing in the "Philadelphia Press" under the pen name
"Rollin," Thomas Morris Chester describes the Union Army's
triumphant entry into the city of Richmond, Virginia,
during the closing days of the Civil War. Rollin is the
only African American newspaperman writing for a mainstream
daily. There will be no others for almost 70 years.
1869 - Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, the principal of the Institute
for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is named
Minister to Haiti and becomes the first major African
American diplomat and the first African American to receive
a major appointment from the United States government.
1909 - Matthew Henson, accompanying Commander Robert Peary's
expedition, is the first, in the party of six, to discover
the North Pole. The claim, disputed by scientific skeptics,
was upheld in 1989 by the Navigation Foundation. Although
in later years Henson will be called Peary's servant or
merely "one Negro" on the expedition, Henson is a valuable
colleague and co-discoverer of the pole. Peary says, "I
couldn't get along without him."
1917 - America enters World War I. President Wilson, who has just
inaugurated a policy of segregation in government agencies,
tells Congress that "the world must be made safe for
democracy."
1931 - The first trial of the Scottsboro Boys begins in Scottsboro,
Alabama. This trial of nine African American youths
accused of raping two white women on a freight train become
a cause celebre.
1931 - Ivan Dixon is born in New York City. He will become an actor
and director and will be best known for his comedic role on
the TV series "Hogan's Heroes." One of his first acting
credits will be for the celebrated television anthology
show "The Dupont Show of the Month" in the 1960 production
of "Arrowsmith." He will go on to act in the film version
of the theatrical drama "A Raisin in the Sun" with Ruby Dee
and Sidney Poitier in 1961, in which he plays Asagai, the
African boyfriend of Beneatha. He will also portray Jim in
the 1959 film version of "Porgy and Bess." His other
pre-"Hogan's Heroes" film work includes: "Something of
Value" (1957), "The Murder Men" (1961), and "The Battle at
Bloody Beach" (1961). After leaving Hogan's heroes he will
appear in more films including "A Patch of Blue" and "Car
Wash." Ivan will begin directing films in the early 1970s,
such as the 1972 gang warfare flick "Trouble Man" and the
1973 action movie "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" (which he
will also produce). For television, he will direct "Love Is
Not Enough" (1978), the series "Palmerstown, U.S.A." (1980),
the detective series "Hawaiian Heat" (1984), and the
telemovie "Percy & Thunder" (1993).
1937 - William December is born in the village of Harlem in New York
City. He will become one of the most romantic leading men of
film and television, better known as 'Billy Dee Williams.'
Among his best known roles will be football great Gale
Sayers in the TV movie "Brian's Song" as well as leading
parts in the movies "Lady Sings the Blues," "Mahogany" and
two "Star Wars" films.
1971 - "Contemporary Black Artists in America" opens at the Whitney
Museum of American Art in New York City. The exhibit
includes the work of 58 master painters and sculptors such
as Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Alma Thomas, Betye Saar,
David Driskell, Richard Hunt, and others.
1994 - The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi are killed in a
mysterious plane crash near Rwanda's capital. Widespread
violence erupts in Rwanda over claims the plane had been
shot down.
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