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Derrick Coleman Q&A | trivia | Community Service Award Winners
| In 1810, the American Insurance Company of Philadelphia becomes the first insurance company managed by Blacks. In 1957 P.H. Young becomes the first African American pilot, flying on a U.S. scheduled passenger airline. Black college students staged the first major sit-in to protest racial segregation at F.W. Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960 and in 1978 the US Postal service unveils the first of its Black Heritage USA Stamp series and featured abolitionist Harriet Tubman. |
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| Biologist Ernest E. Just receives the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1915 for his pioneering research on cell division and fertilization and in 1990, South African President F. W. de Klerk concedes to the Black majority and lifts the ban on the African National Congress while also promising to free Nelson Mandela.
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| In 1870 the 15th Amendment was passed permitting African Americans the right to vote. Nine years later, Charles Follis is born. Follis would become the first African American professional football player in the United States playing for the Shelby Blues in Shelby Ohio.
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| France announces the end to slavery in its country. However under Napoleon, it would be reinstated in 1802 along with the “Code Noir” (Black Codes), which prohibited Blacks and other people of color from entering French colonial territories and intermarrying with whites. In 1913 Rosa Parks who later would be called the “Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement” was born.
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| Major league baseball’s all-time home run hitter and Hall of Famer Henry “Hank” Aaron is born on this day in 1934. Robert Lewis Douglas, founder, owner and coach of the New York (Harlem) Renaissance becomes the first African American to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1972. The Renaissance was an all-African American team that won 88 consecutive games in 1933.
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| 1820 marks the first organized emigration of US Blacks back to Africa, from New York to Sierra Leone. In 1945, Reggae music artist Bob Marley is born in Jamaica. Five years later, Natalie Cole daughter of the great musical legend Nat King Cole, is also born.
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| On a Sunday in 1926, Dr. Cater G. Woodson proclaims the very first Negro History Week, which would later evolve into the current Black History Month celebration. President Truman appointed Irwin C. Mollison, a Black judge of the U.S. Customs court in 1945 and in 2000 Tiger Woods wins his sixth straight PGA Tour victory with an amazing win at Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, becoming the first player since Ben Hogan to win six tour championships in a row.
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| Dr. Martin R. Delaney, a physician becomes the first Black major in the United States Army in 1856. However in 1894, Congress repeals the Enforcement Act, which makes it easier for some states to prohibit Blacks from exercising their right to vote. In 1984 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 27 points to break Wilt Chamberlains record for all-time field goals (12682) and in 1986 Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated television show. |
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| Paul Lawrence Dunbar, famous African American poet dies in 1906 before his 34th birthday. In 1962 Jamaica signs an agreement to be independent from Britain and in 1964 tennis great Arthur Ashe becomes the first African American on a U.S. Davis Cup team. In 1971, Satchell Paige becomes the first African American elected into major league baseball’s Hall of Fame for his great career in the Negro Leagues. |
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| In 1927 Leontyne Violet Price is born in Laurel Mississippi. She would go on to be considered one of the world’s greatest opera talents and become the first African American to sing opera on network television. She would also later receive the N AACP Spingarn Medal and three Emmys. In 1966 Andrew Brimmer became the first African American to serve on the Federal Reserve Board and 5 years later Bill White becomes major league baseball’s first African American announcer. In 1989 Ronald H. Brown becomes chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to hold such a position for either party. | |
| The Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers) sends a petition to Congress calling for the abolition of slavery in 1790. Ruth Carol Taylor, first Black airline stewardess in U.S. commercial aviation, makes her first flight for Mohawk Airlines in 1958. In a 1989 ceremony in Boston, Rev. Barbara Clementine Harris is the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church and in 1990 after 27 years in prison, South African human rights activist Nelson Mandela is freed.
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| Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act in 1793, which makes it a crime to hide or protect a runaway slave. In 1896 Isaac Murphy who became the first jockey to win back-to-back Kentucky Derby’s and the first jockey to ever win three Kentucky Derby’s is born. To celebrate Lincoln’s birthday in 1900, James Weldon Johnson writes “Lift Every Voice and Sing, which became known as the Black National Anthem. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 and is the oldest civil rights organization in the United States.
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| Absalom Jones who was the first African American Episcopalian priest ordained in the United States dies on this day in 1818. More than a century later (1919), legendary college football coaching legend Eddie Robinson who would ultimately win over 400 games and become the first and only coach of a historically Black university college to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated is born. In 1923, Robert J. Douglas founded the First Black pro basketball team, “The Harlem Renaissance”, which would later become the first African American team in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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| Richard Allen, founder of the African American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is born on this day in 1760. In 1817, Frederick Bailey was born into slavery. He would later change his name to Frederick Douglass and become one of the greatest human rights activists in US history. Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Jake LaMotta in 1951 to capture the Middleweight title and in 1966 Wilt Chamberlain breaks the NBA career scoring mark of 20,884 after only 7 professional seasons.
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| World-renowned trumpeter Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly” becomes the number-one record on Billboard’s Top 40 Chart replacing the Beatle’s “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. This 1964 hit would become Armstrong’s first and only number one hit. A year later (1965) Nat King Cole, the first African American to host a national television show dies of lung cancer at the age of 45. Leon Spinks wins a 15-round decision over Muhammad Ali in 1978 to win boxing’s heavyweight championship in Las Vegas Nevada. In 1992 Alex Haley, author of “Roots” and the “Autobiography of Malcolm X” is eulogized by his wife at his memorial in Memphis, Tennessee.
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| The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church “officially separates” from its parent, the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1801 and would later name James Varick as its first pastor and bishop. In 1923 Bessie Smith records “Down Hearted Blues”, which becomes Columbia Records first popular hit selling over 800,000 copies. Producer, director and writer LeVar Burton known mostly for his acting role as Kunta Kinte in the award-winning mini series “Roots” is born in 1957 in Landstuhl, Germany. In 1972 Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first player in NBA history to score 30,000 points and twenty years later on this day, Magic Johnson has his uniform, #32 officially retired by the Los Angeles Lakers.
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| In 1870, the US Congress passes a resolution readmitting the state of Mississippi into the Union on the condition that it “never changes its state constitution to prohibit African Americans to vote”. NFL Hall of Fame and former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown is born in 1936 in Saint Simons, Georgia and in 1963 NBA superstar Michael Jeffrey Jordan is born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1997 the Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the old state song, “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” a tune which glorifies slavery.
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| The first formal protest against US slavery organized by whites in the English American colonies is made in 1688 by Philadelphia (Germantown) Quakers and Mennonites and is called the “Germantown Protest”. In 1867, Augusta Institute (now Morehouse College) is founded in Georgia to educate African American students.
Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison is born in 1931. The Gambia, a country located on the coast of West Africa becomes independent from Britain in 1965 and in 1995 Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers becomes chair of the NAACP.
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| In 1919 W.E.B. DuBois organizes the First Pan African Congress in Paris, which called for self-government and leadership amongst African nations without European intervention. Award winning singer of the Motown group, “The Miracles” William “Smokey” Robinson is born on this day in 1940. In 1992, John Singleton is nominated for two Academy Awards for best screen play and best director for his first film, “Boyz-N-the Hood” He becomes the first African American director every nominated for an Academy Award. In 2000 Vonetta Flowers makes history becoming the first person of African descent to ever win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games as part of the two-person bobsled team.
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| In 1864, the 8th U.S. Colored Troops, the 35th Colored Infantry and the famous 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry held off Confederate Troops allowing Union forces led by General Truman Seymour to retreat to safety. At the age of 78, abolitionist Frederick Douglass dies in Washington, DC. In 1927 Oscar Award winning actor Sidney Poitier is born in Miami while his family is visiting from the Bahamas. Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African American umpire in major league baseball in 1951 and in 1963, future NBA superstar and Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley is born. In 1991 7 African Americans win Grammy Awards including Mariah Carey (Best New Artist female pop vocal), Anita Baker (female R & B vocal), Luther Vandross (male R & B vocal), Living Colour (best hard rock performance), M.C. Hammer (best rap solo and best R & B song), and the duo of Chaka Khan and Ray Charles (best R & B vocal by duo or group). Quincy Jones would also become the all-time non-classical Grammy winner accepting six awards including album of the year (Back on the Block).
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| Baltimore Maryland’s St. Francis Xavier Church becomes America’s first exclusively African American parish in 1864. In 1936 Barbara Jordan who would later become the first African American state senator since 1883 and also a three-term congresswoman is born in Houston, Texas. Human rights activist and former minister in the Nation of Islam, El- Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) is assassinated in New York City’s Audubon ballroom in 1965. Julian Bond becomes the chairman of the NAACP on this day in 1998.
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| In 1865 Tennessee becomes the first former confederate state to be readmitted into the union by adopting a new state constitution, which abolished slavery. Hall of Fame Basketball player Julius “Dr. J” Erving, who is one of five professional basketball players to score over 30,000 points was born in 1950 in Roosevelt, New York. In 1979, St. Lucia gains independence from Great Britain and in 1989 recording artist Bobby McFerrin wins a Grammy for his hit, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”.
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| In 1868, activist, organizer, historian and scholar W.E.B. DuBois was born. He would go on to be one of the founders of the NAACP and organizers of the Pan African Congress. DuBois is listed by Harvard University as one of its top all-time scholars. In 1968 Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first NBA player to score 25,000 points and in 1970, Guyana becomes a republic changing its name from the Republic of Guyana to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Alex Haley’s “Roots” becomes the most watched television program in America on this day in 1977. It is estimated that over 130 million Americans watched some of the show and at least 80 million viewers watched the last episode. In 1979 Colonel Frank E. Peterson, Jr. becomes the first African American general in the Marine Corps and the first African American pilot to win Marine Corps wings.
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| In 1811 Daniel A. Payne reformer and educator of the A.M.E. church and first African American to become a college president was born. In 1842 James Forten, African American businessman and abolitionist dies. He is listed as one of Philadelphia’s most prominent African Americans credited for leading the first Negro Convention (1835), organizing the 1st African Lodge of Free Masons in Philadelphia and founder of the Free African Society (both in 1787). In 1966, Kwame Nkrumah who would become the president of the first African independent nation south of the Sahara (Ghana) travels to Peking to protest the Vietnam War. While out of his country, he is ousted from power in a coup by military rebels. Willie Davenport and Jeff Gadley, the first African Americans to represent the United States at a Winter Olympics place 12th in the four-man bobsled competition in 1980.
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| Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi becomes the 1st Black U.S. Senator replacing Jefferson Davis on this day in 1870. In 1948, Martin Luther King, Jr. is ordained a Baptist minister. Upon his graduation from Morehouse College, he would enroll at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. Considered the “Greatest Heavyweight Champion of all time”, 22- year old Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston on this day in 1964 to become the heavyweight champion. After this victory, he would change his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1991, Adrienne Mitchell becomes the first African American woman to lose her life in combat zone. She was a part of the Persian Gulf War and was killed in her military barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia. A jury convicted white supremacist William King of the brutal murder of James Byrd of Jasper, Texas in 1999. A year later, four police officers, who shot unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo 19 times were acquitted of all charges and set free.
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| In James Edward O’Hara, who went on to serve as a two-term Congressman in North Carolina was born on this day in New York in 1844. In 1926, Dr. Cater G. Woodson starts Negro History Week, which ultimately expanded into Black History Month. That same year, Theodore “Tiger” Flowers becomes the first black middleweight boxing champion defeating Harry Greb in fifteen rounds to win the title in New York City. Blues pianist and singer Antoine “Fats” Domino known for his legendary hits “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Blueberry Hill” is born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1928. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson appoints Andrew Brimmer as governor of the Federal Reserve Board. He will be the first African American to hold such a position.
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| Juan Pablo Duarte leads the fight for independence from Haiti by the people of the Dominican Republic in 1844. John Willis Menard becomes the first African American elected to Congress in 1868 but is never seated. He pleads his case before the House of Representatives and becomes the first African American to speak on the floor of the House. In 1872 Charlotte Ray a Howard University Law School graduate, becomes the 1st Black woman to practice law in the United States. 1967 marked the year of independence and political change for many Caribbean nations. Dominica gained its independence from England while Antigua and St. Christoper-Nevis-Anguilla become associated states of the United Kingdom. By winning a medal at the 1988 winter games in Calgary, world-class figure skater Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to accomplish this feat, which would not be duplicated until 2002. At the tender age of 16, Eldrick “Tiger” Woods is the youngest amateur golfer in 35 years to play in a PGA tournament when he tees off in 1992. Nigerians go to the polls in 1999 and elect Olusegun Obasanjo as their president in an attempt to return back to democracy in African’s most populated nation.
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| In 1784 African American poetess Phillis Wheatley (a favorite of then President George Washington) died. In 1854 anti-slavery activists meet in Ripon, Wisconsin calling for the creation of a new political group. The name of the organization would be the Republican Party. Five years later (1859) the state of Arkansas enacts legislation mandating that African Americans choose between exile (deportation) and enslavement. In 1967, Wilt Chamberlain sets an NBA record by making 35 consecutive field goals. Pop Singer and mega star Michael Jackson makes history by winning eight Grammy Awards (the previous record for a singles artist was six and set in 1965). This 1984 record setting accomplishment stem from his “Thriller” album which became the biggest selling album of all-time with 35 million copies sold since its release in 1982.
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