This Week In Black History October 16-22, 2024

Painting of George Washington Williams addressing the Ohio State Legislature. Williams was the first African-American elected to the Ohio State Legislature, serving one term 1880 to 1881. Bob Hall from Christchurch, New Zealand Wikipedia

• OCTOBER 16

1849—The man considered the first Black historian in America is born. His name was George Washington Williams. He was also the first Afri­can American to serve in the Ohio legislature. He died in Blackpool, En­gland, in August 1891.

1855—John Mercer Langston, probably the first Black elected to public office in America—wins the race for Clerk of the Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio.

1876—Race riot in Cainhoy, S.C., leaves five Whites and one Black dead.

1895—The nation’s leading African American medical group—National Medical Association—is founded in Atlanta, Ga.

1901—Booker T. Washington be­comes the first Black leader to dine at the White House with the pres­ident when Theodore Roosevelt invites him. Some Black leaders charge Washington’s invitation was a result of his policies which they charge tended to accommodate rac­ism. Nevertheless, the invitation and dinner served to crown Washington as the Black leader of the period.

1917—One of the most unsung he­roes of the Civil Rights Movement, Fannie Lou Hamer, is born in Mont­gomery County, Miss. Her famous and most oft-repeated quote: “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

1940—Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. is named the first Black general in the regular U.S. Army. Davis died in 1970 at the age of 90.

1968—Sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith give the clenched-fist Black power salute when accept­ing their medals at the Mexico City Olympics as a protest against racism in America. Sadly, the two sprinters would become involved in a person­al dispute years later. A White Austra­lian sprinter also wore a human rights badge in support of their protest.

1973—Maynard Jackson, elected the first Black mayor of Atlanta, Ga., dies of a heart attack while on a visit to Washington, D.C., in 2003.

1984—Bishop Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end White minority rule in South Africa.

1995—Nation of Islam leader Min. Louis Farrakhan leads the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. More than a million Black men gather to “atone” and organize. No permanent organizational efforts resulted from the historic gathering.

• OCTOBER 17

1720—Jupiter Hammon, the first Black American poet, is born in slav­ery. He was a Calvinist and self-edu­cated writer.

1787—Led by Black Mason Prince Hall, free Boston Blacks petition the Massachusetts legislature for equal school facilities for African-American children. In addition to spreading Freemasonry among Blacks, Hall be­came the most prominent Black lead­er of the period. For reasons which are not entirely clear, records show there were at least 21 men named “Prince Hall” living in Massachusetts at the time.

1871—President Ulysses Grant suspends the writ of habeas corpus in nine South Carolina counties in or­der to combat a Ku Klux Klan terror campaign against Blacks and some progressive Whites. Grant pretty much crushed the Klan during this period. It would not rise again until the 1920s.

1888—The nation’s first Black bank—Capital Savings—is chartered in Washington, D.C., by a group known as the Order of the True Re­formers. The now little known, but once influential group set up chap­ters throughout the South and ad­vocated Black self-help and the starting of Black-owned businesses. The founder was William Washington Browne—a Methodist Minister from Richmond, Va.

In this Dec. 10, 2009 photo Lerone Bennett Jr. poses for a photo in Chicago. (Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

1928—Historian and Ebony mag­azine editor Lerone Bennett Jr. is born. His best known book is “Before the Mayflower.”

1956—Physician and astronaut Mae Jemison is born in Decatur, Ala.

Clifton Wharton Jr (Courtesy Photo)

1969—Dr. Clifton R. Wharton be­comes the first Black in the 20th cen­tury to head a major, predominantly White university when he is named president of Michigan State Univer­sity.

• OCTOBER 18

1917—“Dizzy” Gillespie, bandlead­er and pioneer of “B-bop Jazz,” is born John Birks Gillespie in Cheraw, S.C.

1945—Actor, singer, activist and socialist Paul Robeson receives the NAACP’s prestigious Spingarn Med­al for his artistic achievements. Robe­son would be hounded by the U.S. government because of his leftist leanings. He was labeled a commu­nist, blocked from working in Ameri­ca and later denied a passport so he could not travel to Europe to work.

1951—Novelist  is born in Port Huron, Mich.

• OCTOBER 19

1859—Co-founder of West Virgin­ia State College, Byrd Prillerman, is born. He became one of the state’s most prominent educators

1870—The first African Americans elected to the U.S. House of Rep­resentatives came from South Car­olina: Joseph H. Rainey, Robert C. Delarge, and Robert B. Elliott. Rain­ey was actually seated first and thus became the first African American sworn in as a member of Congress. A portrait in his honor was finally placed in the U.S. Capitol Building in 2006.

1894—Henry Ossawa Tanner wins the Medal of Honor at the Paris Expo­sitions for his paintings. He was the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim for his works. Tanner was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. In fact, he eventually moved to Paris because of opposition to a Black art­ist in the United States. His most fa­mous painting is “The Banjo Player.”

THE BANJO by HENRY OSSAWA TANNER

• OCTOBER 20

1898—The North Carolina Mu­tual And Provident Insurance Co. is founded by a group led by John Merrick. The company grows into the largest Black-owned insurance firm in America.

1904—Enolia P. McMillan is born. She becomes first female president of the NAACP.

• OCTOBER 21

1865—Jamaican national hero and independence advocate, George William Gordon, is unjustly arrest­ed and sentenced to death for his struggle to free the Caribbean island nation from White minority rule. The son of a White man and a Black slave woman, Gordon is considered one of Jamaica’s most significant national heroes.

1950—Earl Lloyd becomes first Black person to play in an NBA game. Lloyd died Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. He was 86. Lloyd’s alma mater, West Virginia State, confirmed the death.  Lloyd made his NBA debut in 1950 for the Washington Capitals, just before fellow Black players Sweetwater Clifton and Chuck Cooper played their first games.

1994—Dexter King, youngest son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is named head of SCLC—an organization founded by his slain father. Ironical­ly, Dexter’s sister Rev. Bernice King would later be named to head the civil rights group.

• OCTOBER 22

1906—Three thousand Blacks demonstrated and rioted in Phila­delphia to protest a theatrical pro­duction of Thomas Dixon’s racist play—“The Clansman.” The play essentially praised the Ku Klux Klan while demeaning Blacks.

1936—Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale is born in Dallas, Texas.

1953—Clarence S. Green becomes the first African American certified as a neurological surgeon.

2009—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues a dev­astating report showing the number of new HIV/AIDS infections was de­clining for all population groups—ex­cept homosexual males, which the CDC refers to as MSM—men who have sex with men. Among MSMs, the highest infection rate was found among young Black males aged 13 to 24.