*               Today in Black History - December 4              *

1783 - George Washington's farewell address to his troops is held
        at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.  The tavern is owned
        by Samuel "Black Sam" Fraunces, a wealthy West Indian of
        African and French descent who aided Revolutionary forces
        with food and money.

1807 - Prince Hall, activist and Masonic leader, joins the ancestors
        in Boston, Massachusetts.

1833 - The American Anti-Slavery Society is founded in Philadelphia
        by James Barbados, Robert Purvis, James McCrummell, James
        Forten, Jr., John B. Vashon and others.

1895 - Fort Valley State College is established in Georgia.

1895 - The South Carolina Constitutional Convention adopted a new
        constitution with "understanding clause" designed to eliminate
        African American voters.

1899 - The Fifty-Sixth Congress convenes with only one African American
        congressman, George H. White, from North Carolina.

1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is founded on the campus of
        Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, becoming the first
        African American Greek-letter organization.

1909 - The New York "Amsterdam News" is founded by James Anderson.
        Originally priced at two cents, it will grow to a circulation
        of almost 35,000 by 1990.

1915 - The NAACP leads protest demonstrations against the showing of
        the racist movie, "Birth of a Nation."

1915 - The Ku Klux Klan receives its charter from Fulton County,
        Georgia Superior Court. The modern Klan will spread to Alabama
        and other Southern states and reach the height of its influence
        in the twenties.  By 1924, the organization will be strong in
        Oklahoma, Indiana, California, Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio, and
        have an estimated four million members.

1927 - President Coolidge commutes Marcus Garvey's sentence. Garvey will
        be taken to New Orleans and deported to his native Jamaica.

1927 - The NAACP's Spingarn Medal is awarded to Anthony Overton,
        publisher, insurance executive and cosmetics manufacturer, for
        his achievements as a businessman.

1927 - Duke Ellington's big band opens at the famed Cotton Club in
        Harlem.  It is the first appearance of the Duke's new and larger
        group.  He will play the club until 1932.

1943 - Professional baseball's commissioner Landis announces that any
        club may sign Negroes to a playing contract.

1956 - Bernard King, professional basketball player (New York Knicks,
        New Jersey Nets), is born.

1958 - Dahomey (Benin), and the Ivory Coast become autonomous within
        the French Community of Nations.

1969 - The Pulitzer Prize for photography is awarded to Moneta Sleet Jr.
        of Ebony magazine.  He is the first African American male cited
        by the Pulitzer committee.

1969 - Clarence Mitchell Jr., director of the Washington Bureau of the
        NAACP, is awarded the Spingarn Medal "for the pivotal role
        he....played in the enactment of civil rights legislation."

1969 - Two Black Panther leaders, Fred Hampton(Illinois State Chairman)
        and Mark Clark, join the ancestors after being killed in a
        Chicago police raid.  The two men are shot while sleeping in
        their beds.  Fred Hampton is just 20 years old.

1977 - Jean-Bedel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Empire, crowns
        himself.

1981 - According to South Africa, Ciskei gains independence, but is not
        recognized as an independent country outside South Africa.

1982 - Hershel Walker, a University of Georgia running back who
        amassed an NCAA record of 5,097 yards in three seasons, is
        named the Heisman Trophy winner.  He is only the seventh junior
        to win the award.  He will go on to play with the New Jersey
        Generals of the U.S. Football League as well as in the NFL with
        the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys.

1990 - The Watts Health Foundation reports revenues in excess of
        $100 million for the first year in its history.  Established
        in 1967, the Foundation grew from its initial site on riot-torn
        103rd Street to serve over 80,000 residents of the Greater
        Los Angeles area with its HMO, United Health Plan, and its
        numerous community-based programs.  Led by CEO Dr. Clyde Oden,
        it is the largest community-based health care system of its
        kind in the nation.

1992 - United States troops land in the country of Somalia.

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