| Date |
Event |
| 1600s |
|
| 1619 |
First black slaves arrive in Jamestown, Va (British America) |
| 1624 |
First black child born in English-America, William Tucker |
| 1641 |
Massachusetts becomes first of the colony to legalize slavery |
| 1663 |
First recorded slave/indentured conspiracy by black and white, in Gloucester, Va |
| 1664 |
Maryland passes the first anti-miscegenation law, barring marriage between whites and blacks |
| 1688 |
First anti-slavery protest by Germantown Quakers at monthly meeting |
| 1700s |
|
| 1704 |
Frenchman Elias Neau, opens up school for slaves |
| 1712 |
Slave revolt in New York. Nine white killed and twenty-one slaves executed |
| 1730 |
Slave plot discovered in Norfolk and Princess Anne, Va |
| 1739 |
September 9, slave revolt in Stono, South Carolina. Twenty five whites died before insurrection was put down |
| 1756 |
Blacks served in the French and Indian War |
| 1766 |
George Washington orders one slave to be sold to the West Indies for molasses, rum, limes, tamarinds, sweet meats, liquor |
| 1767 |
Phillis Wheatley writes poem "A Poem by Phillis, A Negro Girl, On the Death of Reverend George Whitefield", published in 1870 |
| 1770 |
-Crispus Attucks runaway slave 1st to be killed in the Boston massacre |
| |
-Lord Mansfield makes decree that all slaves free if they join British forces |
| 1775 |
-many Minutemen were black volunteers, who Paul Revere warned 'the British are coming' |
| |
-Black soldiers, such as Lemuel Haynes, Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys help capture Fort Ticonderoga, NY |
|
-Black soldiers such as Salem Poor, Barzillai Lew, Cuff Whitmore fought courageously at the Battle of Bunker Hill; Peter Salem fired the shot that killed British Major John Pitcairn |
|
-The Massachusetts Committee of Safety stipulates only free blacks may serve in the Revolutionary Army |
|
-General George Washington issues decree after taking command forbidding black recruitment in the military |
| |
-Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, decreed all slaves free if join the British army |
| |
-George Washington ordered the enlistment of blacks in the military, after Dunmore's decree |
|
-Continental Congress authorizes the navy to recruit both free and slave to served in the American Navy |
|
-Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, the first abolition organization, in the US is founded by Quakers |
| 1777 |
Vermont was first state to abolish slavery, followed by Ma & NH(1783), Penn(1780), Conn & RI(1784),NY(1799), NJ(1804) |
| 1778 |
After the winter of Valley Forge, Blacks(free and slave) were welcome into the Revolutionary Army. 5,000 black soldiers fought in all major battles. They fought in integrated units. |
| 1787 |
Apr. 12, Free African Society is organized by Absalom Jones and Richard Allen |
| |
Jul. 13, slavery forbidden in Northwest Territory |
| |
Sep. 12, first black masonic lodge, African Lodge No. 459, founded by Prince Hall veteran of the war |
| |
Sep. 17 Constitution enacted with three clause protecting slavery |
| 1790 |
Black population is @ 757,208 |
| 1791 |
Benjamin Banneker served on commission that surveyed Washington, D.C. |
| | Haitian Revolution, first succesful slave uprising in history, sends shockwave in all slaveholding societies in the Americas |
| 1793 |
Feb 12, First fugitive slave act passed by Congress, criminalizing the harboring and preventing the arrest of runaway slaves |
| 1794 |
Mar 14, Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin making cotton king in the south and increased the need for black slave labor |
| |
Jul. 17, Absalom Jones, an Episcopalian, was the first black ordained minister in America |
| |
Bethel AME church was founded by Richard Allen |
| 1796 |
Zion Methodist Church founded in New York |
| 1796 |
Jan. 30,Congress refused to accept petition of blacks |
| |
Sojourner Truth is born in Hurley, New York |
| 1800s |
|
| 1800 |
-1,002,037 Blacks in America |
|
-Gabriel Prosser and Jack Bowler plans uprising, plot discovered, Prosser and numerous conspirators executed |
|
-A ban on exporting slaves by any US citizen was enacted |
| 1803 |
-Louisiana Purchase from France, territory from Mississippi R. to Rocky Mountains |
| 1804 |
-York, a slave, served as guide to Lewis & Clark to the Pacific |
|
-All states north of the Mason Dixon Line(Maryland border, 19 miles south) forbids slavery or had laws for its demise |
|
-First Masters of Arts(Middlebury College) degree awarded to a black person, Rev. Lamuel Haynes |
| 1806 |
-Edward Rose leads Mountain Men west, Rose became guide to numerous fur companies |
| 1807 |
-two boatloads of slaves, arriving in Charleston, South Carolina , starved themselves to death than be enslaved |
| 1808 |
-Jan. 1 slave importation to US prohibited |
| |
-1 million enslaved Africans in US |
| 1810 |
-1,377,808 is the black population |
| 1814 |
-Andrew Jackson request for black troops, black troops fought on land and water in the War of 1812 |
| 1816 |
-American Colonization Society formed to transport free blacks back to Africa |
| 1817 |
-Frederick Douglas is born in Tuckahoe, Maryland |
| 1818 |
-Battle of Suwanee, a force of black and Seminole defeated by Andrew Jackson, ending the 1st Seminole War |
| 1820 |
-Black population is at 1,771,656 (18.4%) |
| 1822 |
-Denmark Vesey slave insurrection plot discovered, 37 hanged, Vesey and 5 aides hanged |
| 1826 |
-John Russwurm, the first African American college graduate, received degree at Bowdoin |
| 1827 |
-Freedom's Journal first African American newspaper is publish Mar. 16 in New York City |
| 1830 |
-African American population is at 2,328,642(18.2%) |
| |
-James Augustine Healy first African American Roman Catholic bishop |
| 1834 |
-David Rugles open first African American bookstore in New York City,white mobs burned down store next year |
| |
-Henry Blair first African-American to receive a patent, corn harvesting device, first time race of inventor noted |
| 1835 |
-a convention in Philadelphia suggested blacks remove 'African' from the names of their institutions, many early black
institutions in America used the word 'African' to describe their organizations because many freed slaves had recollections of being in Africa |
| |
-Second Seminole War, blacks were with Seminoles on attack of Florida settlements, considered the largest slave revolt |
| 1838 |
August, Mirror Liberty first African American magazine published by David Ruggles |
| 1839 |
-Feb. 25, Seminoles and black allies shipped from Tampa Bay, Fl to West |
| |
-Nov. 13, Liberty Party formed, first political party whose main issue was the abolition of slavery |
| |
-George Latimer fugitive slave, captured triggering crisis between North and South over slavery |
| 1845 |
-Macon B. Allen , first African-American admitted to the bar, Worcester, Mass. , May 3 |
| 1847 |
-Jun 30, Dred Scott case begins |
| |
-July 26, Liberia an independent republic is founded by African American ex-patriot |
| |
-Dec. 3, North Star, Frederick Douglas's paper printed for the first time |
| 1849 |
-Harriet Tubman escapes from Maryland slavery-returns 19 times, emancipates 300 slaves |
| |
-Apr. 28, supreme court establishes "separate but equal doctrine" in Boston school case brought by Benjamin Roberts |
| 1850 |
-Feb. 15 Black abolitionist crashed into Boston court and rescued fugitive slave |
| |
-Sep. 11 Black abolitionists scattered slave catchers in Christiana, Pa. One white killed and another wounded |
| |
-Oct. 1 Black & White abolitionist crashes court in Syracuse NY and frees fugitive slave |
| |
-Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812 by William C. Nell, first extended history of African Americans |
| 1852 |
Mar. 20, First edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| 1853 |
-Clotel by William Wells Brown, first African American novel |
| 1854 |
-Jan. 1, Lincoln University(Ashmum Institute) in Chester County, Pa founded, first African American college |
| |
-Anthony Burns, fugitive slave captured and escorted by 2,000 US troops out of Boston |
| |
-May 30, Kansas-Nebraska Act opens Northwestern Territory to slavery, neutralizes Missouri Compromise |
| 1855 |
-Apr. 5, Booker Taliafero Washington is born in Franklin County |
| |
-Mar. 6, Dred Scott decision opens all federal territory to slavery, concludes African Americans are not citizens of US |
| 1858 |
-The Escape by William Wells Brown,first African American play published |
| 1859 |
-In February, Arkansas legislature put all blacks on notice, leave or be enslaved |
| |
-Oct. 16-17, John Brown attacks Harpers Ferry with 13 whitemen and 5 African Americans |
| |
-Dec. 2, John Brown hanged at Charlestown, Va |
| |
-The Clothilde delivers the last slave shipment on US soil |
| 1860 |
-African American population @ 4,441,830 |
| |
-Nov. 6, Abraham Lincoln elected president of the US |
| 1861 |
-Abraham Lincoln requests for troops, black recruits were turned away from the Union Army for two years |
| |
-Aug. 30, Gen. John C. Fremont proclaims slaves free in Missouri, Lincoln nullifies proclamation |
| |
-Sep. 25, Secretary of Navy authorizes black enlistment |
| 1862 |
-Mar. 13, Congress forbids soldier to assist in the return of fugitive slaves |
| |
-Apr. 16 slavery ends in DC |
| |
-May 9, David Hunter organizes First South Carolina Volunteers |
| |
-Aug. Jim Lane organizes First Colored Kansas Volunteers |
| |
-Gen. David Hunter proclaimed all Georgia, Florida, South Carolina slaves free, revoked by President Lincoln |
| |
-Robert Smalls hijacks the steamer Planter from Charleston, SC and delivers it to the US Navy |
| |
-Jul. 17, congress passes law allowing the recruiting of black soldiers |
| |
-Jul. 17, congress frees slaves of all rebels |
| |
-Sep. 23, Lincoln discusses plans to acquire territory for sending all free black people |
| |
-Oct. 28, First Kansas Colored Volunteers repulse rebels at Island Mound, Mo. First black troops to engage in battle |
| |
-Dec. 1, Lincoln discusses bonds as compensation for states that abolish slavery |
| 1863 |
-Jan. 1, Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation, applied only to rebel states, did not apply to border states |
| |
-Jan. 26, Fifty Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers was first black regiments formed in the North |
| |
-Mar. 10, two Black Regiments, First and Second South Carolina captures Jacksonville, Fla. |
| |
-May 1, Confederacy declared black troops criminals to be enslaved or killed |
| |
-May 22, War Department starts Bureau of Colored Troops, active campaign for Black in the military |
| |
-Jun. 7, at Miliken's Bend, La. black regiment and small detachment of white troops, repulse Texas rebels |
| |
-Jul. 1-3, the capture of Fort Hudson included 8 black regiments |
| |
-Jul. 13-17, New York Draft Riot, worst race riot in US, triggered by fear of draft and hostility towards blacks |
| |
-Jul. 17, Honey Springs, Indian territory, First Kansas played major role in capturing rebel force |
| |
-Jul. 18, Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers northern black regiments made charge of Fort Wagner, SC-African American William H. Carney received Congress Medal of Honor for charge |
| |
-Jul. 30, Lincoln issued "an eye for an eye" order, stipulating for every black POW killed, a rebel POW will be killed, for every
black POW enslaved, a rebel POW will get hard labor for life, diminishing the killing of black soldiers captured by the confederacy |
| 1864 |
-Apr. 12, Fort Pillow in Tenn captured by majority Black regiment, was recaptured by Nathan Bedford Forrest, who massacred all blacks, whites, women and children |
| |
-Apr. 18, First Kansas Colored Volunteered drove through rebel lines in Poison Spring, Ark. sustaining massive casualities, wounded black soldiers were murdered by Confederate soldiers |
| |
-Apr. 30, Union troops kept Confederate troops at Bay in Jenkins' Ferry, Saline River, Ark., the Second Kansas Colored Volunteers went into battle shouting "remember Poison Spring" |
| |
-May 24,First and Tenth U.S.C.T repulse attack by Confederate Fitzhugh Lee at the Battle of Wilson's Wharf Landing, |
| |
-Jun. 10, Black brigade halted expansion of General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Battle of Brice Cross Roads near Guntown, Miss. |
| |
-General Charles J. Paine's black division spearheaded the attack on Petersburg, splitting rebel defense which resulted in 200-300 rebel troops being captured |
| |
-Jun. 15, Congress equalize pay, equipment, arms, and medical treatment for black troops |
| |
-Jun. 16-April, 1865 black regiments play prominent role in the seize of Petersburg and Richmond; 32 Black infantry regiments, 2 Black cavalry regiments, were involve in the seige |
| |
-Deep Bottom Aug. 14-16;Darbytown Road Oct. 13;Fair Oaks Oct. 27-28;Hatcher's Run Oct. 27-28 were sieges with significant Black input |
| |
-Jun. 19, Joachim Pease, black sailor, won Congressional Medal of Honor, for service at sea in the battle between USS "Kearsage" and CSS "Alabama" off Cherbourg, France |
| |
-Jul. 15, General A.J. Smith defeats Nathan B. Forrest at Harrisburg near Tupelo, Miss.-a brigade of Black troops took part |
| |
-Jul. 30, Black soldiers saw battle at rebel lines near Petersburg, Ninth Corps had the largest casualty, the Forty-Third U.S.C.T. was the only success with capture of 200 rebels;Decatur Dorsey of the Thirty Nineth of the U.S.C.T. won Congressional Medal of Honor |
| |
-Aug. 5, John Lawson, black gunner, awarded Congressional Medal of Honor for courage in the Battle of Mobile Bay on the flagship of Admiral David Farragut |
| |
-Sep. 29-30, black troops saw battle at Chaffin's Farm in Richmond, captured New Market Heights, usuccessful attempt to capture Fort Gilmer, repell counter-attack on Fort Harrison. Twelve black soldiers won Congressional Medal of Honor |
| |
-Dec. 3, the Twenty-Fifth Corps, the largest all black unit the US army established |
| |
-Dec. 10-29, the Sixth and Fifth Cavalry saw battle under Major General George Stoneman in his invasion of southwest Va, the Sixth Cavalry served with distinction in Marion, Va |
| |
-Dec. 15-16, two brigades of black troops fought in the Battle of Nashville, help crush rebel troops. Black troop openned battle on the first day and engage the right of rebel line. Black brigades under Colonel Charles R. Thompson made ingenious charge up Overton Hill. |
| 1865 |
Jan. 11, Robert E. Lee made recommendation for arming slaves, after numerous defeats |
| |
Jan. 15, Black division under General Paine saw battle for the capture of Fort Fisher, N.C.-last Confederate fort |
| |
Jan. 17, General Lee made the statement it was "necessary" to have slave soldiers |
| |
Jan. 31, Thirteenth Amendment passed, ended slavery |
| |
Feb. 1, John S. Rock first African American to make arguments before the Supreme Court |
| |
Feb. 12, Henry Highland Garnet, first black person to preach before capitol on abolition of slavery |
| |
Feb. 18, capture of Charleston, SC, U.S.C.T and Fifty Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers assisted in capture |
| |
Mar. 3, Freedmen's Bureau formed to aid refugees and former slaves |
| |
Mar. 13, Jefferson Davis authorizes slave recruitment in Confederate army |
| |
Apr. 2, Second Brigade of Second Division of the black Twenty-fifth Corps among first to enter Petersburg |
| |
Apr. 3, Fifth Massachusetts Colored Cavalry and units of Twenty-fifth Corps was on the frontlines entering Richmond |
| |
Apr. 9, Fort Blakely, AL defense broken, 9 Black regiments of three brigades under General John Hawkins help smash defense |
| |
Apr. 3-9, Second Division of the black Twenty-fifth was one of the units that help chase Lee's army from Petersburg to Appomattox, when Confederates surrendered |
| |
Apr. 11, Lincoln recommends voting rights for black veterans and blacks who were "very intelligent" |
| |
Apr. 15, Lincoln dies |
| |
May 13, the Sixty-second U.S.C.T. fought last battle at White Ranch, Texas |
| |
Jul. 26, Patrick Francis Healy first African American to receive Ph.D, pass final exams at Louvain in Belgium |
| |
Sep. 6, Thaddeus Stevens, congressman urge the confiscation of Confederate leaders land to be distributed to former slave, each slave receiving 40 acres |
| |
Dec. 18, Thirteenth Amendment becomes part of the constitution |
| |
Dec. 18, white legislatures enact black codes in former rebel states |
| 1866 |
Feb. 5-Thaddeus Stevens introduce bill to have president distribute land to ex-slaves in lots of 40 acres, defeated 126 to 37 |
| |
Apr. 9-Civil Rights Bill passed, President's veto over-riden |
| |
-Edward G. Walker, Charles L. Mitchell elected to Massachusetts House of Representative, 1st blacks elected to US legislative body |
| 1867 |
-Jan. 8, Bill gives voting rights to African Americans in DC, President's Johnson's veto over-riden |
| |
-Feb. 7, Frederick Douglas leads delegation to White House requesting voting rights for slaves |
| |
-Feb.,Morehouse College (Da House) opens |
| |
-Mar. 2, Reconstruction Acts passed, divides Confederate territory into 5 military districts, called for constitutional college, ex-slaves given the right to vote |
| |
-Apr., First national meeting of the Klu Klux Klan Maxwell House, Nashville |
| |
-May, the Knights of the White Camelia, white supremacist organization founded in Louisiana |
| 1868 |
-Feb. 23 William Edward Burghardt Du Bois born Great Barrington, Massachusetts |
| |
-Jun 13, Oscar J. Dunn elected Lieutenant governor of Louisiana, highest position held by blackman up to that date |
| |
-Blacks became lieutenant governor of Mississippi, South Carolina |
| |
-Jul. 28, Fourteenth Amendment becomes part of the constitution |
| 1870 |
-Black population at 4,880,009 |
| |
-Feb. 25-Hiram Revels, first African American in the Congress, senator from Mississippi |
| |
-Mar. 30, 15th Amendment becomes part of the constitution, gave African-Americans the right to vote |
| |
-May 31, first set of Enforcement Acts, put elections in federal hands to protect black civil and political rights |
| |
-Jun. 26, James W. Wright enters West Point, first African American to do so, did not graduate |
| |
-Dec. 12, Joseph H. Rainey, first Black in the House of Representative |
| 1871 |
-Oct. 17 President Grant makes proclammation against KKK, habeas corpus suspended in nine counties in South Carolina |
| 1872 |
-Feb. 27, Charlotte E. Ray, first African American woman lawyer, graduate from Howard University Law School |
| 1873 |
-Nov. Richard T. Greene, first black graduate of Harvard, becomes professor of metaphysics at University of South Carolina |
| 1874 |
-Mar. 11, Charles Sumner senator who aggressively defended black rights dies |
| |
-Apr. 27, the White League founded in Opelousas, La |
| |
-Aug. 26, sixteen African-Americans taken from jail and shot by hooded men |
| |
-Aug. 30, Coushatta Massacre, several blacks and Republican office holders killed |
| |
-Dec. 7, Race riot in Vicksburg, Miss. thirty five African American killed |
| |
-Dec. 21 President declares anti-violence proclammation |
| 1875 |
-Mar. 1-Civil Rights Bill pass, giving equal rights to African Americans in public theaters, inns, restaurants |
| |
-Mar. 5, Blanche Kelso Bruce from Mississippi entered senate, only black person to serve full term during Reconstruction |
| |
-Jun. 2, James A. Healy gets consecrated, first African American Catholic Bishop |
| |
-Sep. 1, Race riot in Yazoo Miss. eight to twenty blacks and black Republicans killed |
| |
-Sep. 4, Race riot in Clinton Miss. twenty to eighty blacks and black Republicans reported killed |
| |
-Sep. 8, Governor of Miss. requested troops to protect African Americans, request denied |
| |
-Nov. 2, Conservatives wins Mississippi election using the Mississippi Plan, using riots, political assassination, massacres, and social intimidation to undo Reconstruction policy-similiar plans were used to overthrow Reconstruction policy in South Carolina and Louisiana |
| 1876 |
-Jul. 8, race riot Hamburg, SC , five African Americans killed |
| |
-Oct. 17, Rifle Clubs banned in South Carolina by presidential proclamation |
| |
Oct. 26, Grant sends troops to South Carolina |
| |
-Nov. 9, troops sent to Tallahasse, Fl |
| |
-Edward A. Bouchet received Phd in Physics from Yale, first African American to receive Phd from an American institution |
| 1877 |
Feb. 26, at conference in Wormley Hotel in Washington, Southern representative promise support to Rutherford B. Hayes for president in return for removal of US troops in the South |
| |
Apr. 10, US troops removed from Columbia, SC , while Democrats with native white southern interest take over state government |
| |
Jun. 15, Henry O. Flipper graduates from West Point, first African American to do so |
| 1879 |
Exodus of 1879, African Americans fled political and economic exploitation in south |
| 1880 |
Black population at 6,580,793 |
| 1881 |
Jul. Tuskegee Institute openned by Booker T. |
| |
Tennessee inaugurate Jim Crow by instituting separate accommodations in railroads cars for blacks and whites- Jim Crow spreads to other southern states |
| 1883 |
Oct. 15, Supreme Court declares Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional |
| 1884 |
May 19, John Roy Lynch, first African American to preside over a major party political convention, he was elected temporary chairman of the Republican Party |
| |
Nov. 15, Berlin Conference, Scramble for Africa |
| 1886 |
Mar. 17, Carrollton Massacre in Carollton Miss. 20 African Americans killed |
| 1890 |
African American population at 7,488,676 |
| |
Aug. 12-Nov. 1, Mississippi convention inaugurate purging blacks from political activities in the South Mississippi, ex. literacy test, disenfranchisement spread to other southern states. |
| 1893 |
Jul. 9, Dr. Daniel Hale Francis performs the first successful open heart surgery in Chicago Provident History |
| 1895 |
Feb. 20, Frederick Douglas dies Anacostia Heights, DC |
| |
Mar. 11-12 black laborers attack , troops called out |
| |
Sep. 18, Booker T. and the Atlanta Compromise |
| 1896 |
May 18, Plessy vs. Fergusson upheld separate but equal doctrine |
| 1898 |
Nov. 10, race riot in Wilmington North Carolina, eight African Americans killed |
| |
Jun. 24, American troops including the Tenth Cavalry drove Spanish troops out from position in La Guasimas, Cuba |
| |
Jul. 1, Tenth Cavalry made charge at El Caney, relieving Theodore's Roosevelt's Rough Riders; Four black regiments fought in
battle at Santiago. The all black Sixteenth was raised for battle. |
| |
-A Trip to Coontown by Bob Cole produced, first African American musical comedy |
| 1900s |
|
| 1900 |
African American population at 8,833,994 (11.3% of the population) |
| 1901 |
Mar. 4 , George H. White last of Reconstruction congressman ends term |
| |
Oct. 16, Booker T. Washington dines at White House with Roosevelt, South was very critical |
| 1903 |
Apr. 27, Supreme Court uphelds clause in Alabama Constitution, denying the vote to African Americans |
| |
Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B Dubois published, in opposition to Booker T.'s ideology |
| 1905 |
Niagara Movement organize by Dubois and William Monroe Trotter at Niagara Falls |
| 1906 |
Aug. 13 Brownsvilled, Texas raided by black soldiers of 25th regiment after being insulted, one white man killed and two wounded. Roosevelt discharged 3 units of the 25 regiments. |
| 1908 |
Sep. 22-24, Atlanta race riots, ten African Americans killed and two whites killed. |
| |
Aug 14-19, race riots in Springfield, Ill. This leads to the founding of the NAACP |
| |
Dec. 26, Jack Johnson defeats Tommy Burns at Sydney, Australia becoming the Heavyweight Champion of the World |
| 1909 |
Feb. 12, NAACP founded |
| |
Apr. 6, Commander Robert E. Peary and African American assistant Mathew H. Henson reached the North Pole |
| 1910 |
African American population at 9,827,763 |
| 1912 |
Sept. 27, Memphis Blues by W.C. Handy , first published blues piece, went on sale |
| 1913 |
Mar. 10, Harriet Tubman dies |
| 1915 |
jun. 21, grandfather clause was struck down by Supreme Court |
| |
-2,000,000 African Americans moved out of the South seeking employment in the industrial North in the Great Migration |
| |
-NAACP protest movie Birth of A Nation |
| |
Sep. 9, Carter G. Woodson forms the Association for the study of Negro Life and History |
| |
Nov. 14, Booker T. Washington dies in Tuskegee, Ala. |
| |
-Ernest E. Just receives the first Spingarn Medal by the NAACP |
| 1916 |
Mar. 15, African American 10th Cavalry and 24th Infantry among forces that pursued Pancho Villa under Brigadier General John Pershing |
| 1917 |
East St. Louis race riots, 40 to 200 African Americans killed |
| |
Aug. 23, race riots in Houston Texas between 24th infantry and white citizen, 2 African Americans killed, 17 whites killed, later 13 infantry soldiers were hanged |
| 1918 |
Jul. 25-28, race riots in Chester, Pa -five killed |
| |
Jul. 26-29, race riots in Philadelphia, Pa- four killed |
| |
Nov. 11, World War I ends, 370,000 African American troops served and 1,400 commissioned officers, three African American regiments received the Croix de Guerre for valor(369th, 371st, 372nd regiments). The 369 was the first American unit to reach the Rhine. Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts were the first soldiers in the American Army to be decorated by France. |
| 1919 |
Feb. 19-21, W.E.B. Dubois organizes first Pan-African Congress at Grand Hotel Paris |
| |
-26 race riots during the summer of 1919 |
| 1920 |
African American population at 10,463,131 or 9.9% of the US population |
| |
Harlem Renaissance, a period of great achievements in the arts and outpouring of creativity lead by Claude McKay, with contributions from Jean Toomer, Alain Locke, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, James Weldon Johnson |
| |
Aug. 1 Convention of Marcus Garvey's Universal Improvement Association opened in Liberty Hall |
| 1921 |
Jun. 1, Race Riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma --21 whites and 60 African Americans killed |
| |
Phds awarded to the following black women for the first time: Eva B. Dykes (English), Sadie T. Mossell(Economics),
Georgiana R. Simpson(German), |
| 1922 |
Governor of Louisiana meets with President about KKK violence in state |
| 1923 |
Sep. 15, Governor of Oklahoma declared martial law because of KKK activities |
| |
Oct. 24, during the previous twelve months 500,000 African Americans left the south |
| 1924 |
Fletcher Henderson, first musician to make name with Jazz big band, opens in Roseland Ballroon on Broadway |
| 1925 |
Louis Armstrong records first of Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, influenced the direction of Jazz |
| 1927 |
Mar. 7, Supreme Court knock down laws barring African Americans from voting in "white" primaries |
| |
Dec. Marcus Garvey deported as undesirable alien |
| 1929 |
Jan. 15, Martin Luther King is born in Atlanta, Ga |
| |
"Jobs-For-Negroes" begins in Chicago, picketing stores on the south side. The "Spend Your Money Where You Can Work" campaign spread to La, Cleveland, NY, and continued throughout the Depression |
| 1930 |
Black population at 11,891,143 or 9.7% of the population |
| 1931 |
Scottsboro Case, 9 black youths accused of raping 2 white females |
| 1935 |
Swing Era begins, era of big bands represented by Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie |
| |
Dec. 5, National Council of Negro Women founded |
| 1936 |
Aug. 9, Jesse Owens wins Gold Medal in Berlin Olympics |
| 1937 |
Mar. 26, William H. Hastie becomes the first federal judge, judge of the Federal District Court of the Virgin Islands |
| 1938 |
Nov. 8, Crystal Bird Fauset elected to the Pennsylvannia House of Representative, first woman legislator |
| 1939 |
Jane Matilda Bolin, first woman judge, Judge of Court of Domestic Relations in New York, |
| 1940 |
Black population at 12,865,518 |
| |
Benjamin Oliver Davis is made Brigadier General, first black general in the entire history of the army |
| 1941 |
Jan. 16, War Department plans formation of an all black Army Air Corps squadron |
| |
Jan. 26, mass movement held in 24 states to protest discrimination in the war effort |
| |
Charles Drew setup plasma bank in Presbyterian Hospital in NY, engaging in pioneering research that saved millions of lives |
| |
Jun. 25, Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8802 bans religious discrimination in war industry, government training programs and industries |
| |
Jul. 10, First army flying schools for blacks established at Tuskegee |
| |
Dec. 7, Dorie Miller, USS Arizona, downed four enemy planes in attack on Pearl Harbor, awarded Navy Cross |
| 1942 |
Mar. 7 Tuskegee graduates its first group of flying students |
| |
Jun. 18 Bernard W. Johnson, first African American to win a commission in the US Navy, made ensign in Naval Reserve |
| 1943 | Jun. national CORE(Congress of Racial Equality) organized |
| | Sep. 29, Booker T. Washington launched ,commanded by Hugh Mulzac, first merchant ship commanded by a black person |
| | Jul. 2, Lt. Charles Hall becomes the first black pilot to shoot down a German plane |
| 1944 | Apr. 24, United Negro College Fund incorporated |
| 1947 | Apr. 10, Jackie Robinson joins Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black member of a team of organized baseball |
| | Oct. 23, NAACP petition the world via the United Nations for racial justice in America |
| 1948 | Feb. 12, Lt. Nancy Leftenant becomes the first African American in the Army Nurse Corps. |
| | Jul. 26, Executive Order 9981 issued by Truman, mandating equality of opportunity and treatment in the armed forces |
| | Oct. 1, California supreme court concludes the state anti interracial mariage laws unconstitutional |
| 1949 | Jan. 18, William L. Dawson becomes head of House Expenditure Committee-First African American to head a congressional standing committee |
| | Jun. 3, Wesley L. Brown becomes first African American to graduate from Annapolis Naval Academy |
| | Oct. 3, WERD opens in Atlanta, becomes the first African American owned radio station |
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