* Today in Black History - May 15 * 1795 - John Morront, the first African American missionary to work with Indians, is ordained as a Methodist minister in London, England. 1802 - Jean Ignace joins the ancestors in Baimbridge, Guadeloupe. He dies in the revolt against the Napoleonic troops sent to the Caribbean island to reimpose slavery. 1891 - The British Central African Protectorate (now Malawi) is established. 1918 - In a World War I incident that will later be known as "The Battle of Henry Johnson," the African American attacks advancing Germans, frees sentry Needham Roberts, and forces the retreat of the enemy troops. Johnson and Roberts will be awarded the Croix de Guerre, France's highest military award. They are the first Americans ever to win the award. 1923 - "The Chip Woman's Fortune" by Willis Richardson opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway. The play, staged by the Ethiopian Art Theatre of Chicago, is the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be presented on Broadway. 1934 - Alvin Francis Poussaint is born in the village of East Harlem in New York City. After being educated at Columbia College, Cornell University Medical School, and the University of California's Neuropsychiatric Institute, he will become a psychiatrist and educator specializing in African American psychological and social issues. He will begin his career teaching at Tufts Medical School and Harvard Medical School. He will then join Operation Push. He will be a consultant for the television series, "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World, hired to ensure that the story lines present positive images of African Americans. He will later become Associate Dean and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (1993). 1938 - Diane Nash is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will become an civil rights activist and one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960. She will be part of the first group of civil rights activists who will refuse to pay bail for protesting under the "Jail, No Bail" strategy employed in the South. She will later marry fellow civil rights activist James Bevel and take his last name as her middle name. She and her husband will receive the Rosa Parks award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1965. 1942 - The 93rd Infantry is activated at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It is the first African American division formed during World War II and is assigned to combat duty in the South Pacific. 1946 - Camilla Williams appears in the title role of Madama Butterfly with the New York City Opera. She is the first African American female concert singer to sign a contract with a major American opera company. 1953 - Former Heavyweight Champion, Jersey Joe Walcott, is knocked out by Rocky Marciano at Chicago Stadium at two minutes, 25 seconds of the first round. 1970 - Two African American students (Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green) at Jackson State University in Mississippi are killed when police open fire during student protests. 1983 - James VanDerZee joins the ancestors in Washington, DC at the age of 96. He had been a prominent photographer who recorded and contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. Over his long career, which extended into his 90s, he captured the images of many famous African Americans. 1992 - Mary M. Monteith (later Simpkins) joins the ancestors in Columbia, South Carolina. She was a civil right activist who had been a state secretary of the NAACP and instrumental in the fight to desegregate South Carolina public schools. ______________________________________________________________ Munirah Chronicle is edited by 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 - 2010, All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with The Black Agenda.