#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 1, 1978 ~ Harriet Tubman was the first African-American woman to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.
The first stamp of the U.S. Postal Service's Black Heritage USA series honors Harriet Tubman, famed abolitionist and "conductor" on the Underground Railroad.
January 2024 Black History Everyday thread can be found here:
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 3, 1956 ~ Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first black student to attend the University of Alabama.
She was expelled three days later "for her own safety" in response to threats from a mob. A quarter century later, the university overturned her expulsion. In 1992 she graduated from the University with a master’s degree in education. The same day, her daughter, Grazia Foster, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 4, 1986 ~
The U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth as part of its Black Heritage series.
Born a slave, Truth managed to escape to freedom and became known as a fearless advocate for enslaved African-Americans and women.
She is best known for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech that challenged gender and racial inequalities.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 5, 1994 ~ White supremacist Byron De La Beckwith is convicted in the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, over 30 years after the crime. Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his home on June 12, 1963.
Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served in WW II, was engaged in efforts to end segregation of public facilities and expand opportunities for blacks including the enforcement of voting rights.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 6, 1869 ~ Robert Tanner Jackson becomes first African American to receive a degree in dentistry. Jackson had applied to two schools, and was rejected on racial grounds. He then applied to the Harvard Dental School and was a member of the first graduating class in 1869.
The Washington Society of Colored Dentists renamed itself in 1909 the Robert Tanner Freeman Dental Society in honor of America's first African-American dentist.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 7, 1872 ~ Alcorn A&M College was opened. This Historically Black School is now called Alcorn State University in Alcorn, Mississippi.
Alcorn is the oldest public historically Black land-grant institution in the US and the second-oldest state-supported institution of higher learning in Mississippi. Alcorn University was founded as a result of efforts to educate the descendants of formerly enslaved Africans.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 8, 1986 ~ Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.
Winfrey is the first Black woman billionaire, with deep attention paid to strategic financial partnerships and enterprises. Her immense monetary wealth aside, Winfrey has spent her career fostering creative projects that have elevated her standing as an American icon among fans.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 9, 1971 ~ Pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In August of that year, Paige, a pitching legend known for his fastball, showmanship and the longevity of his playing career, which spanned five decades, was inducted. Joe DiMaggio once called Paige “the best and fastest pitcher I’ve ever faced.”
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 10, 1964 ~ After 12 days of debate and voting on 125 amendments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by a vote of 290-130.
President Lyndon Johnson made the passage of slain President Kennedy’s civil rights bill his top priority during the first year of his administration.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-act-of-1964.html
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 11, 1977 ~ Clifford Alexander Jr. confirmed as the first black secretary of the United States Army.
He first served on the National Security Council during the Kennedy administration, before becoming chairman of the EEOC in 1967. He was appointed Secretary of the Army a decade later, becoming the first African American to hold the position. He served in that role until 1981.
#Army #History
https://www.army.mil/blackamericans/profiles/alexander.html
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 12, 1909 ~ NAACP founded. On the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, a group that included African American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett announced the formation of a new organization. Called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, it would have a profound effect on the struggle for civil rights and the course of 20th-century American history.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/naacp-is-founded-in-new-york-city
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 13, 1970~ The New York Stock Exchange admits its first black member, Joseph Searles.
Although Searles was the first black trader on the exchange's floor, he was technically not its first black member.
Contemporary accounts indicate that Searles's interest in the financial markets may have been more about breaking through the color barrier on Wall Street than about a professional ambition to enter the world of finance.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 14, 1867 ~ Morehouse College organized at Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga. by the Rev. William Jefferson White, with the Rev. Richard C. Coulter and the Rev. Edmund Turney. The institution was later moved to Atlanta.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 15, 1968 ~ Henry Lewis makes history when he is chosen, over more than 150 other candidates, as the first Black conductor of a major U.S. orchestra: the New Jersey Symphony. It marks just one highlight in a barrier-breaking career that prompted The New York Times to liken him to Jackie Robinson of classical music.
#ClassicalMusic #Orchestra #NewJersey
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-lewis-first-black-conductor-major-u-s-orchestra
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 16, 1923 ~ Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith makes her first recording, “Down Hearted Blues,” which sells 800,000 copies for Columbia Records.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 17, 1977 ~ Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song, “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia,” a tune that glorifies slavery.
Written by James Bland, a black Northerner who wrote this song from a freed slave's perspective about wanting to go back home to Virginia.
It was Virginia's state song from 1940 until 1997, until the lyrical content became too controversial.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 18, 1894 ~ Mount Zion Baptist Church was incorporated in Seattle, Washington.
Mount Zion Baptist Church has a long and rich history spanning over a century and is home to the largest African American congregation in Washington state.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 19, 2002 ~ Bobsledder, Vonetta Flowers became the first African American and the first Black athlete from any country to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics. She, along with driver Jill Bakken, won the gold medal in the two-woman event.
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 20, 1934 ~ Four Saints in Three Acts, by Virgil Thompson and Gertrude Stein, premieres as the first opera performed by African Americans on Broadway.
@nursefrombirth I might have to make an excuse to get to the post office for this stamp.
@nursefrombirth 👍 also like your new pic!
@nursefrombirth
Thank you for posting these bios, so they will be remembered and/or discovered by those of us here.
@Bliss My pleasure. 🥰
What an inspiring achievement that stands tall even today.
@nursefrombirth I was born in 1973 and in my head this happened long before I was born. It’s a starling reminder that it really wasn’t that long ago.
@nursefrombirth I think any grown woman alive has been impacted by Oprah in some soul gripping way. She is a true role model for all of us.
@SatuUnelmia Absolutely agree 🥰
#BlackHistory Every Day ~Today in Black History
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February 2, 1897 ~ Alfred L. Cralle patents the Ice Cream scoop.
While working in Pittsburgh as a porter Cralle noticed that the popular treat ice cream, was difficult to dispense. It stuck to spoons and ladles and usually required two hands and at least two implements to serve.
Thank you Mr. Cralle! 🥰🍨
#BlackHistoryMonth #IceCream