* Today in Black History - June 5 *
1783 - Oliver Cromwell, an African American soldier who served in the
Revolutionary War, receives an honorable discharge signed by
George Washington. Cromwell, who will claim to have been with
Washington when he crossed the Delaware and in the battles of
Yorktown, Princeton, and Monmouth, is cited by Washington as
having earned "the Badge of Merit for six years' faithful
service."
1872 - The Republican National Convention meets in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The meeting marks the first significant
participation of African American delegates: Robert B. Elliot
(chair of the South Carolina delegation); Joseph Rainey,
and John R. Lynch of Mississippi, who each make addresses
to the convention.
1920 - Marion Motley is born in Leesburg, Georgia. He will become a
NFL running back and all-time AAFC rusher for the Cleveland
Browns, ending his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He
will enter the NFL in 1946, making him one of only four African
Americans to desegregate the NFL in the modern era. One of the
largest running backs of his era, Motley will rush for 4,720
yards in his career and average an astounding 5.7 yards per
carry, the highest in pro football history. He will also be
selected to the first Pro Bowl in 1951. He will be enshrined in
the NFL Hall of Fame in 1968. He will join the ancestors in
Cleveland, Ohio on June 27, 1999.
1940 - The American Negro Theatre is organized in Harlem by Frederick
O'Neal, Abram Hill, and members of the McClendon Players. Among
the plays it will produce is "Anna Lucasta", which will be
presented on Broadway in 1944 and feature Canada Lee, Ossie Davis,
and Ruby Dee.
1944 - Tommie Smith is born in Clarksville, Texas. He will become a
track star (sprinter), and Olympic athlete/runner. He will win
the Olympic Gold medal in the 200 meters in the 1968 Olympics.
It will be, on the winners platform, that he and John Carlos
will raise clinched fists as the national anthem is played. He
will be inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame
in 1978.
1952 - Jersey Joe Walcott defeats Ezzard Charles for the heavyweight
boxing title.
1956 - A three-judge federal court rules that racial segregation on
Montgomery city buses is unconstitutional, ending the
Montgomery bus boycott.
1959 - U.S. Supreme Court undermines the legal foundations of segregation
in three landmark cases, Sweatt v. Painter, McLaurin v. Oklahoma
State Regents and Henderson v. United States.
1969 - A race riot occurs in Hartford, Connecticut.
1973 - Doris A. Davis of Compton, California, becomes the first African
American female to govern a metropolitan city.
1973 - Cardiss R. Collins of Chicago, Illinois is elected to Congress.
She will succeed her late husband and spend over twenty years
in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1983 - Yannick Noah becomes the first Frenchman to win the French Open
since World War II.
1988 - Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr. joins the ancestors at the age of 58.
He was the first African American chairman of the United States
Civil Rights Commission (1981-88). Following President Ronald
Reagan's desires, he led the commission toward a "color-blind"
approach to matters of civil rights.
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