James Meredith, a civil rights leader, organized the “March Against Fear” on June 5, 1966. He had enrolled at the University of Mississippi in 1962, four years earlier, being the first African American student to do so. Meredith chose to take a 21-day lone march from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, to the Mississippi … Read more
The Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers in Richmond, Virginia was the first Black-owned bank in the United States. Reverend William Washington Browne created the bank on March 2, 1888, and it opened its doors on April 3, 1889. The Capitol Savings Bank of Washington, D.C. was the first black-owned … Read more
Individuals will send unique notes to loved ones, family, and coworkers as the year draw to a close and Christmas approaches. Willie James Howard, a 15-year-old who was kidnapped by three white male adults and drowned, died as a result of such a seemingly benign act. Willie Howard was attractive, well-liked, a talented singer, and … Read more
Homer Plessy’s one act of civil disobedience inspired the Civil Rights Movement of the twentieth century. He is most known as the plaintiff in Plessy v. Ferguson, a landmark court case opposing segregation. In 1892, as a racially mixed shoemaker, he defied Louisiana segregation laws by refusing to board a whites-only train car. He did … Read more
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, an African-American cardiologist, became the first surgeon in the United States to execute a successful open-heart treatment in 1893, exactly 125 years ago today. Because he was one of the few black cardiologists in the United States at the time, William’s surgery became a notable milestone in medical history and an … Read more
Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth was bombed twice and imprisoned more than 35 times during his lifetime, in addition to being beaten unconscious for seeking to enroll his kids in an all-white school. Before his death in October 2011, the American preacher and civil rights leader was the last of the civil rights movement’s “Big Three.” … Read more
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, started in 1935 and lasted seven months, culminating in the military occupation of Ethiopia. Italy attempted an invasion of Ethiopia for the second time. Ethiopia was a sovereign nation with a robust army and a strong monarchy at the time, while the rest of … Read more