November in African American History

November 29 ~ Granville T. Woods patented his most famous invention, the Railway Induction Telegraph System, on this day in 1887. The Induction Telegraph helped reduce train collisions.

Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court judge, was born on this day in 1908.

By Tiffani Addison

November in African American History

November 28 ~ Richard Wright, novelist and author of Native Son, died on this day in 1960.

By Tiffani Addison

November in African American History

November 25 ~ Segregation in buses and terminals wasbanned by the Interstate Commerce Commission on this day in 1955.

By Tiffani Addison

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November in African American History

November 23 ~ Patent No. 549,059 was awarded on this day in 1897 to Andre J. Beard, an African American inventor. Despite having no formal education in engineering or metalwork, Beard had invented an automatic railroad car coupling device called the Jenny Coupler. Before Beard's invention, men had to try to brace themselves between two railroad card and drop a metal pin into place at the exact moment the two cars came together. Thousands of railroad workers lost their hands, arms, and even their lives. His automatic coupler safely hooked railroad cars to each other.

By Tiffani Addison

November in African American History

November 11 ~ On this day in 1831, Nat Turner, leaders of the Southhampton, Virginia Slave Revolt, was hung.

Today is also Veterans Day, let's remember those brave soldiers who have fought and serve.

By Tiffani Addison

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November in African American History

November 9 ~ In 1731 Benjamin Banneker, inventor, mathematician, astronomer, and one of the planners of Federal City (now Washington D.C.), was born.

Also on this day in 1868 Howard University Medical School opened with eight students!

By Tiffani Addison

November in African American History

November 7 ~ On this day in 1989, L. Douglas Wilder, of Virginia, became the first black governor in the U.S.

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By Tiffani Addison

November in African American History

November 5 ~ In 1836 Theo Wright became the first black person in the U.S. to obtain a theology degree.

In 1926 Carter G. Woodson initiated Negro History Week.

In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. A Democrat, she represented the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. In 1972 she became the first African American woman to run for president with a major political party. Aware that she would not win the nomination, Chisholm explained her motivation for entering the race. "The next time a woman of whatever color, or a dark-skinned person of whatever sex aspires to be president, the way should be a little smoother because I helped pave it."

In 1974 George Brown of Colorado became the first African American lieutenant govenor in the U.S.

By Tiffani Addison

November in African American History ~ WEB DuBois

November 1 ~ WEB DuBois began publication of NAACP monthly magazine, Crisis, in 1910.

By Tiffani Addison

October in African American History ~ Paul Robeson

October 19, 1943 ~ Othello opened on this day at New York's Shubert Theater, with Paul Robeson in the title role. Its 296 performances made it the longest running Shakespearean play in Brodaway history.

By Tiffani Addison

October in African American History! ~ Garrett A. Morgan

October 13, 1914 ~ The gas mask was patented on this date by Garrett A. Morgan, inventor from Cleveland, Ohio. Morgan also invented the traffic signal.

Born in March 1877 in Paris, Kentucky to a former slave, he moved to Cleveland at age 18 and found work repairing sewing machines and making clothes. Morgan made enough money to open his own sewing machine repair shop in 1907. He was so successful that he expanded his business two years later to include making clothes, using equipment he had built himself. A year before he had helped form the Cleveland Association of Colored Men.

The same skills that made Morgan a successful inventor and businessman also fired curiosity and drove his inventions. He would see and then go about trying to find something that filled the need. If that something didn't exist, he would make it himself. He had done this with his sewing equipment business, to great success. (He had 32 employees.)

Morgan saw that people who fought fires had other reasons to go into tunnels filled with smoke and fumes had no means of protecting themselves from breathing the bad air. So, he invented what would eventually become the gas mask. His device became an overnight sensation on July 25, 1916, when he used it to perfection in rescuing several people trapped underground after an explosion at the Cleveland Waterworks. The feat made the national news, and soon Morgan received orders from fire departments across the country. He branched out again in 1920, starting a newspaper, the Cleveland Call. The newspaper was a success, and he soon bought a home and a car. (Some historians say that he was the first African American to own a car). He died in 1963 after a long and successful life. His two outstanding inventions live on.

By Tiffani Addison

October in African American History! ~ Clarence Thomas

October 11, 1991 ~ Appeals Court judge Clarence Thomas delivered a speech to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his reopened confirmation hearings. President George Bush has nominated Thomas to be the 106th Supreme Court Justice, filling Thurgood Marshall's vacancy.
Because Thomas' credentials were arguable and he held conservative views, particularly in regards to civil rights, support from the African American community was mixed. the Urban League and Southern Christian Leadership Conference supported his nomination, while the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus opposed.

By Tiffani Addison

Ocober in African American History ~ William Still

October 7, 1821 ~ William Still was born in New Jersey, a free man. Still was known as "president of the Underground Railroad" and was th organizaion's main strategist and leading spokesperson.
His classic work, Underground Railroad, was published in 1872. Besides his humanitarian work, still owned a prosperous coal stove business and lumber yard. He also founded the first YMCA for African Americans.

By Tiffani Addison

October in African American ~ Benjamin Banneker

October 9, 1806 ~ Benjamin Banneker died on this day at the age of 74 in Baltimore, Maryland. Banneker was a noted mathematician, surveyor, and astronomer. He was the most famous Afican American of the colonial era.
Banneker was born Ellicott Mills in 1731, the son of a free mother, who purchased a slave and then married him-just as her white English-servant mother had done. While still in his 20s, Banneker built the first clock made in America. People traveled long distances to see his famous clock, made entirely of wood using only a pen knife, which worked accurately for 20 years.

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By Tiffani Addison

October in African American History ~ Emmer Robinson

October 4, 1964~Emmer Robinson was named coach of the American Basketball League's Oakland club, becoming one of the first African Amricans to coach a major professonal sports team. He began his basketball career touring in the 1960's with the talented an amusing Harlem Globetrotters.

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By Tiffani Addison