* Today in Black History - December 5 *
1784 - African American poet Phyllis Wheatley dies in Boston at the age
of 31. Born in Africa and brought to the American Colonies at
the age of eight in 1761, Wheatley was quick to learn both
English and Latin. Her first poem was published in 1770 and she
continued to write poems and eulogies. A 1773 trip to England
secured her success there, where she is introduced to English
society. Her book, "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and
Moral", was published late that year. Married for six years to
John Peters, Wheatley and her infant daughter died hours apart
in a Boston boarding house, where she worked.
1832 - Sarah Gorham, the first woman appointed by the African Methodist
Episcopal Church to serve as a foreign missionary in 1881, is
born.
1881 - The Forty-Seventh Congress (1881-83) convenes. Only two African
American congressmen have been elected, Robert Smalls of South
Carolina and John Roy Lynch of Mississippi.
1895 - Elbert Frank Cox is born in Evansville, Indiana. He will become
the first African American to earn a doctorate degree in
mathematics (Cornell University - 1925).
1918 - Charity Adams Earley becomes the first African-American
commissioned officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942.
She served in the Army for four years and held the rank of Lt.
Colonel at the time of her release from active duty.
1931 - James Cleveland is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will sing his
first gospel solo at the age of eight in a choir directed by
famed gospel pioneer Thomas Dorsey. He will later sing with
Mahalia Jackson, The Caravans, and other groups before forming
his own group, The Gospel Chimes, in 1959. His recording of
"Peace Be Still" with the James Cleveland Singers and the 300-
voice Angelic Choir of Nutley, New Jersey, will earn him the
title "King of Gospel."
1932 - 'Little' Richard (Pennimann), rhythm and blues singer and composer
("Good Golly Miss Molly", "Tutti Frutti", "Lucille") and preacher,
is born.
1935 - The National Council of Negro Women is established by Mary McLeod
Bethune.
1935 - Langston Hughes's play, "The Mulatto", begins a long run on
Broadway.
1935 - Mary McLeod Bethune is awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal for her
work as founder-president of Bethune Cookman College and her
national leadership.
1946 - The NAACP's Spingarn Medal is awarded to Thurgood Marshall,
director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, "for
his distinguished service as a lawyer before the Supreme Court."
1946 - President Truman created The Committee on Civil Rights by
Executive Order No. 9808. Sadie M. Alexander and Channing H.
Tobias were two African Americans who will serve as members of
the committee.
1947 - Jersey Joe Wolcott defeats Joe Louis for the heavyweight boxing
title. It is also the first time a heavyweight championship
boxing match is televised.
1949 - Ezzard Charles defeats Jersey Joe Walcott for the heavyweight
boxing title.
1955 - The Montgomery bus boycott begins as a result of Rosa Parks'
refusal to ride in the back of a city bus four days earlier.
At a mass meeting at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Martin
Luther King Jr. is elected president of the boycott organization.
The boycott will last a little over a year and be the initial
victory in the civil rights struggle of African-Americans in the
United States.
1955 - Asa Philip Randolph and Willard S. Townsend are elected vice-
presidents of the AFL-CIO.
1955 - Carl Murphy, publisher of the Baltimore Afro-American, is awarded
the NAACP's Spingarn Medal for his contributions as a publisher
and civil rights leader.
1957 - New York City becomes the first city to legislate against racial
or religious discrimination in housing market (Fair Housing
Practices Law).
1957 - Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal for
his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1981 - Marcus Allen, tailback for the University of Southern California,
wins the Heisman Trophy. Six years later, Tim Brown of the Notre
Dame "Fightin' Irish" will win the award.
1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at age 37, is the oldest player in the
National Basketball Association. He decides to push those weary
bones just one more year by signing with the Los Angeles Lakers -
for $2 million this day. Other NBA greats who played for 16
seasons include John Havlicek of Boston, Dolph Shayes of
Philadelphia, Paul Ilas of Seattle and Elvin Hayes of Houston.
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