* Today in Black History - April 16 *
1862 - Slavery is abolished in Washington, DC, and $993,407 in
compensation is paid to slave owners for their lost "property."
1868 - Louisiana voters approve a new constitution and elect state
officers, including the first African American lieutenant
governor, Oscar J. Dunn, and the first African American state
treasurer, Antoine Dubuclet. Article Thirteen of the new
constitution bans segregation in public accommodation: "All
the persons shall enjoy equal rights and privileges upon any
conveyances of a public character; and all places of business,
or of public resort, or for which a license is required by
either State, Parish or municipal authority, shall be deemed
places of a public character and shall be opened to the
accommodation and patronage of all persons, without
distinction or discrimination on account of race or color."
1869 - Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett is appointed Consul General to Haiti
and the Dominican Republic, the first African American to serve
in a diplomatic position for the United States. Bassett will
hold the post for 12 years.
1947 - Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. is born in New York City. He will
become one of the finest basketball players in history, first
with UCLA, then with the Milwaukee Bucks and, from 1975 to his
retirement in 1990, with the Los Angeles Lakers. After his
conversion to Islam in 1971, he will change his name to Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar early in his professional career. The all-time
leading scorer in the NBA, he will lead the Lakers to five NBA
championships, including back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988.
1962 - Three Louisiana segregationists are excommunicated by Archbishop
Joseph Rummel for continuing their opposition to his order for
integration of New Orleans parochial schools.
1965 - Maj. General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., assistant deputy chief of
staff of the U.S. Air Force, is named lieutenant general, the
highest rank attained by an African American to date in the
armed services.
1973 - Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American female to
be elected mayor of a U.S. city when she takes office in the
small town of Taft, Oklahoma. She will hold the position for 13
years.
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