* Today in Black History - March 1 *
1739 - The British sign a peace treaty with the Black "Chimarrones"
in Jamaica.
1780 - Pennsylvania becomes the first state to abolish slavery.
1841 - Blanche Kelso Bruce is born a slave in Prince Edward County,
Virginia. During Reconstruction, he will move to Mississippi,
where he will become a wealthy landowner of several thousand
acres in the Mississippi Delta. He will be appointed to the
positions of Tallahatchie County registrar of voters and tax
assessor before winning an election for sheriff in Bolivar
County. He later will be elected to other county positions,
including tax collector and supervisor of education, while he
also edits a local newspaper. In February 1874, he will be
elected by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate as a
Republican, becoming the second African American to serve in
the upper house of Congress. He will be the first elected
black senator to serve a full term. Hiram R. Revels, also of
Mississippi, will be the first African American to serve in
the U.S. Senate, but will not serve a full term. On February
14, 1879, he will preside over the U.S. Senate, becoming the
first African American (and the only former slave) to do so.
In 1880, James Z. George was elected to succeed him. At the
1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago, he will
become the first African American to win any votes for
national office at a major party's nominating convention,
winning 8 votes for vice president. The presidential nominee
that year was James A. Garfield, who will win the election.
In 1881, he will be appointed by President Garfield to be the
Register of the Treasury, becoming the first African American
to have his signature featured on U.S. paper currency. He will
be appointed as the District of Columbia recorder of deeds and
will serve from 1890 to 1893, projected to yield fees of up to
$30,000 per year. He will be appointed as Register of the
Treasury a second time in 1897 by President William McKinley
and will serve until he joins the ancestors on March 17, 1898.
1864 - Rebecca Lee becomes the first African American woman to
receive an American medical degree, when she graduates from
the New England Female Medical College in Boston. She,
along with Rebecca Cole and Susan McKinney, is one of the
first African American female physicians.
1871 - James Milton Turner is named minister to Liberia and becomes
the first African American diplomat accredited to an African
country. James W. Mason was named minister in March, 1870,
but never took his post.
1875 - The (first) Civil Rights Bill is passed by Congress. The bill,
which gives African Americans equal rights in inns, theaters,
public transportation, and other public amusements, will be
overturned by the Supreme Court in 1883.
1914 - Ralph Waldo Ellison is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He
will become a well known author, best known for his book
"Invisible Man," for which he will win the 1953 National Book
Award. Writing essays about both the black experience and his
love for jazz music, he will continue to receive major awards
for his work. In 1969, he will receive the Presidential Medal
of Freedom. The following year, he will be made a Chevalier of
the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France and become a
permanent member of the faculty at New York University as the
Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities, serving from 1970 to
1980. In 1975, he will be elected to The American Academy of
Arts and Letters, and his hometown of Oklahoma City will honor
him with the dedication of the Ralph Waldo Ellison Library.
Continuing to teach, he will publish mostly essays, and in 1984,
he will receive the New York City College's Langston Hughes
Medal. In 1985, he will be awarded the National Medal of Arts.
In 1986, his "Going to the Territory" will be published. This
is a collection of seventeen essays that include insight into
southern novelist William Faulkner and Ellison's friend Richard
Wright, as well as the music of Duke Ellington and the
contributions of African Americans to America's national identity.
He will join the ancestors on April 16, 1994.
1927 - Harry Belafonte is born in New York City. He will become a
successful folk singer, actor, and winner of the first Emmy
awarded to an African American. His commitment to civil and
human rights will lead him to march with Martin Luther King,
Jr. in Montgomery, Selma, and Washington, DC. Among his
achievements will be Kennedy Center Honors in 1989.
1940 - Richard Wright's "Native Son" is published by Harper and
Brothers.
1949 - Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxing champion after holding
the title for a record eleven years and eight months.
1960 - Four national chain stores announce on October 17 that
food counters in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North
Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee,
Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma will be integrated.
1960 - The Alabama State Board of Education expels nine Alabama State
University students for participating in sit-in
demonstrations.
1960 - Montgomery, Alabama, police break up a protest demonstration
on the Alabama State University campus and arrest thirty-five
students, a teacher and her husband.
1960 - San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first major Southern city to
integrate lunch counters.
1960 - Pope John elevates Bishop Laurian Rugambwa of Tanganyika to
the College of Cardinals, the first cardinal of African
descent in the modern era.
1963 - Carl T. Rowan is named United States ambassador to Finland.
1967 - The House of Representatives votes to expel Adam Clayton
Powell, Jr. from the 90th Congress. (The Supreme Court will
rule in 1969 that Powell will have to be seated after being
re-elected by his constituency.)
______________________________________________________________
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene' A. Perry
"The TRUTH shall make you free"
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>
Archives: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/Munirah.html
http://blackagenda.com/cybercolonies/index.htm
_____________________________________________________________
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name
______________________________________________________________
Munirah(TM) is a trademark of Information Man. Copyright 1997 - 2016,
All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with
The Black Agenda.
|
