* Today in Black History - April 18 * 1818 - Andrew Jackson defeats a force of Indians and African Americans at the Battle of Suwanee, ending the First Seminole War. 1861 - Nicholas Biddle becomes the first African American in uniform to be wounded in the Civil War. 1864 - The First Kansas Colored Volunteers break through Confederate lines at Poison Spring, Arkansas. The unit will sustain heavy losses when captured African American soldiers are murdered by Confederate troops as opposed to being taken as POWs, which is the standard treatment for captured whites. 1877 - The American Nicodemus Town Company is founded by six African American settlers in northwestern Kansas. The town will be settled later in the year. 1941 - Bus companies in New York City agree to hire African American drivers and mechanics. This agreement ends a four-week boycott. Dr. Robert Weaver is named director of Office of Production Management section, charged with integrating African Americans into the National Defense Program. 1955 - Bandung Conference of leaders of colored nations of Africa and Asia opens in Indonesia. 1961 - James Benton Parsons is the first African American judge of a U.S. district court in the continental United States. Chicago attorney Parsons is appointed judge of the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois. In 1975, Parsons will become the first 1983 - Alice Walker is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for "The Color Purple." Ten days later, the novel will also win the American Book Award for fiction. ******************************************************** The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica, "InfoBeat," "I, Too, Sing America - The African American Book of Days," and independent research by the Information Man. ******************************************************** ______________________________________________________________ Munirah Chronicle is edited by Brother Mosi Hoj "The TRUTH shall make you free" E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> Archives: <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/Munirah.html> ______________________________________________________________ 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 1998, All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with CODE One Communications.