*               Today in Black History - December 1              *

1641 - Massachusetts becomes the first colony to give statutory
        recognition to the institution of slavery.

1821 - Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) proclaims independence
        from Spain.

1873 - The 43rd Congress (1873-75) convenes with seven African
        American congressmen: Richard H. Cain, Robert Brown Elliott,
        Joseph H. Rainey and Alonzo J. Ransier, South Carolina; James
        T. Rapier, Alabama; Josiah T. Walls, Florida; John R. Lynch,
        Mississippi.

1873 - Mifflin Wister Gibb is elected city judge in Little Rock,
        Arkansas and becomes the first African American to hold such
        a position.

1873 - Bennett College (Greensboro, North Carolina) and Wiley College
        (Marshall, Texas) are founded.

1874 - Queen Esther Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star, is
        established at 708 O Street, N.W., Washington, DC in the home
        of Mrs. Georgiana Thomas.  The first Worthy Matron is Sister
        Martha Welch and the first Worthy Patron is Bro. Thornton A.
        Jackson.  This establishes the first Eastern Star Chapter among
        African American women in the United States.

1877 - Jonathan Jasper Wright, the first African American state
        supreme court justice, resigns from the state supreme court
        in South Carolina.  He resigns knowing that whites would soon
        force him off the bench after overthrowing the Reconstruction
        government.  He will later die, in obscurity, of tuberculosis.

1892 - Minnie Evans, visual artist and painter, is born. One of her more
        famous works will be "Lion of Judah."  She will be inducted into
        the Wilmington, NC "Walk of Fame."

1934 - Billy Paul, rhythm and blues singer, best known for his song,
        "Me and Mrs. Jones", is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1935 - Lou Rawls is born in Chicago, Illinois.  A successful rhythm,
        blues, and jazz singer, he will record over 30 albums
        including "Unmistakably Lou", a 1977 Grammy winner for best
        R & B vocal performance.  He will also be a strong supporter
        of African American colleges, as host of the annual UNCF
        telethon.

1940 - Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III is born in Peoria, Illinois.
        Raised in a brothel owned by his grandmother, Pryor will try
        music as a drummer before his big comedy break on "The Ed
        Sullivan Show" and a series of successful, Grammy-winning
        comedy albums.  Pryor will also make movies, most notably
        "Stir Crazy" and "Silver Streak".  Pryor will also battle drug
        abuse and illness in his career, including his near death from
        burns inflicted while freebasing cocaine and a battle against
        multiple sclerosis.

1955 - Rosa Parks, a seamstress, refuses to take a back seat on a
        Montgomery, Alabama bus.  Her refusal to move will result in
        her arrest and will begin a 382-day boycott of the bus system
        by African Americans and mark the beginning of the modern
        American Civil Rights movement.

1958 - The Central African Republic is made an autonomous member of
        the French Commonwealth of Nations.

1980 - George Rogers, of the University of South Carolina, is named
        the Heisman Trophy winner.  Rogers will go on to achieve
        success with the Washington Redskins.

1980 - United States Justice Department sues the city of Yonkers, New
        York, citing racial discrimination.

1981 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpasses Oscar Robertson as basketball's
        second all-time leading scorer (second only to Wilt
        Chamberlain).  Kareem gets to the total of 26,712 points as
        the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 117-86.
        Chamberlain's record will fall in 1984, when Kareem's scores
        reach 31,259.  Kareem will wind up his career in 1989 with
        38,387 points.

1982 - Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" is released and will go on
        to become the best-selling album in history, with over 40
        million copies sold worldwide.

1989 - Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey dies in New York City.
        Ailey began his professional career with Lester Horton,
        founded, and was the sole director of the Alvin Ailey American
        Dance Theater in 1958.  Initially performing four concerts
        annually, he took the company to Europe on one of the most
        successful tours ever by an American dance troupe.  Among his
        honors were the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1977, and Kennedy
        Center Honors.

1992 - Pearl Stewart becomes the first African American woman editor
        of the Oakland Tribune, which has a circulation of over
        100,000.

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