WHAT IS BLACK HISTORY
MONTH?....
It s the month we celebrate the progress and diversity of
African American achievement.In the 1920's Carter G.
Woodson, an African American, created and promoted Negro
History Week. He chose the month of February becase it
included the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham
Lincoln.
WHY WE NEED BLACK HISTORY MONTH - ALL YEAR AROUNDby
Henry Martey Codjoe
FEBRUARY IS
BLACK HISTORY MONTH by Yaw Boateng
CLINTON TO PARDON FIRST WEST POINT BLACK GRADUATE
[posted 1999-02-22 13:50:04]
THOMASVILLE, Ga. (AP) - In his last two years at West
Point, not one cadet spoke to Henry O. Flipper, a campaign
of silence that failed to destroy his drive to become the
school's first black graduate.
Flipper persevered against the shunning, graduating in
1877, and the former slave persevered until his death at
the age of 84 against the apparently racially motivated
charges that led to his dishonorable discharge a few years
later.
Nearly 60 years after Flipper's death, President Clinton
was to pardon the Army's first commissioned black officer
at a ceremony in Washington tonight.
Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who kept a photo of Flipper on
his wall while serving as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, was expected to attend along with other black
officers and Flipper's descendants.
Clinton
To Pardon First West Point Black Graduate
CLINTON PARDONS PORT CHICAGO SAILOR
[posted 1999-12-28 13:23:12]
Kevin Galvin
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) President Clinton today pardoned a Black
sailor court-martialed for mutiny when he and others
refused to load live ammunition following a deadly 1944
explosion on two transport ships. Freddie Meeks of Los
Angeles is one of only two known surviving members of the
50-man crew sentenced to three months in prison following
the incident at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine near San
Francisco. He alone formally sought a pardon.
The explosion killed 320 men.
Lawmakers, veterans' groups and the NAACP had urged Clinton
to grant a pardon, contending that the sailors were the
victims of racial prejudice.
WORLD
AFRICAN NETWORK
From Morgan Freeman, A Story of Black Sailors'
'Mutiny'
Fallen
Heroes, Forgotten Heroes
1932 - BILL PICKET
, well-known cowboy who was acclaimed by President Theodore Roosevelt as 'one of the best trained ropers and riders the West has produced," dies. Pickett per-formed as a bulldogger in Europe, Mexico, and the U.S ., where he was often assisted by two relatively unknown white cowboys, Tom Mix and Will Rogers.
1839 - ROBERT SMALLS
is born into slavery in Beaufort, S.C. He will become a Civil War hero by sailing an armed Confederate steamer out of Charleston Harbor and presenting it to the Union Navy and be a three-term congressman from his state.
1990 - Seven African-American journalists are inducted into the newly created Hall of Fame of the National Association of Black Journalists in Washing-ton, D.C. Dubbed "pioneers of mainstream journalism," the inductees include DOROTHY BUTLER GILLIAN of the Washington Post, MELVIN R. GOODE of ABC News, MAL H. JOHNSON of Cox Broad-casting, GORDON PARKS of Life magazine, TED POSTON of the New York Post, NORMA QUARLES of Cable News Network, and CARL T. ROWAN
of King Features Syndicate . Twelve Pulitzer Prize winners are also honored at the awards ceremonies.
1939 - When she is refused admission to the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitutional Hall to give a planned concert, MARIAN ANDERSON
per-forms for 75,000 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Two months later, she wil l be honored with the NAACP's Spingarn Medal for her talents as "one of the greatest singers of our time" and for "her magnificent dignity as a human being."
Source:
BOYNTON'S CALENDAR African American History
BENJAMIN BANNEKER
In 1761, Benjamin Banneker constructed the first wooden
clock in America. It kept perfect time for 50 years.
In 1792, President George Washington, on the recommendation
of the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, appointed
Banneker to a six-member team to help lay out the
magnificent grandeur of design that ranks our nation's
capital outstanding among world capitals
Without Benjamin Banneker, our nation's capital would not
exist as we know it. After a year of work, the Frenchman
hired by George Washington to design the capital, L'Enfant,
stormed off the job, taking all the plans. Banneker, placed
on the planning committee at Thomas Jefferson's request,
saved the project by reproducing from memory, in two days,
a complete layout of the streets, parks, and major
buildings. Thus Washington, D.C. itself can be considered a
monument to the genius of this great man
Benjamin BannekerThe First African-American
Inventor
BEN
JAMIN BANNEKER
Banneker items Close To Being Auctioned
ENGINES OF OUR
INGENUITY
ALEXANDRE DUMAS
The nineteenth century has surely given the world more
prolific writers than any other, but none perhaps was to
prove more productive than the grandson of a French marquis
and a black slave: Alexandre Dumas. His collected works run
to something over three hundred titles, two of which--The
Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo--have been
internationally beloved since their initial publication
some 150 years ago.
The life and resurrection of Alexandre
DumasThe grandson of a Haitian slave, he became the
most famous author in France; now, his rousing Romantic
novels are enjoying renewed popularity
Alexandre
Dumas, Jr.-(1824-1895)French playwright and novelist,
illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas, who however supported
his sons education with care. Dumas fils best-know work is
The Lady of the Camillas.
A
Profile of Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre
Dumas, Sr. (1802-1878)contains a listing of the works
of Dumas
CHARLES RICHARD DREW
(1904-1950)
Dr. Charles Richard Drew was the first person to develop
the blood bank. His introduction of a system for the
storing of blood plasma revolutionized the medical
profession. Drew first utilized his system on the
battlefields of Europe and the Pacific during World War II.
He later organized the world's first blood bank project -
Blood for Britain. He also established the American Red
Cross Blood Bank, of which he was the first director. .
He was born in Washington, D.C. As the first director of
the American Red Cross Blood Bank, Drew encouraged public
awareness that blood banks do not need to be segregated by
race. He practiced medicine and taught surgery throughout
his career.
DR.
CHARLES RICHARD DREW
CHARLES RICHARD DREWAccomplished Scientist,
Physician, Blood Plasma Researcher
Dr.
Charles Ricard Drew-Scentist & Medical PioneerAmerican
Red Cross-Virtual Museum
BEN CARSON
Dr. Benjamin Carson,one of the wrld's most gifted surgeons was born in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating with honors from high school, he attended Yale University where he earned a degree in Psychology. From Yale he went to the Medical School of the University of Michgan, where his interest shifted from psychology to neurosurgery. After medical school he became a neurosurgery resident at the world famous Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. At the age of 32, he became the hospital's Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery. In 1987, Carson made medical history with an operation to separate a pair of Siamese twins. The Binder twins were born joined at the back of the head. Operations to separate twins joined in this way had always failed, resulting in the death of one or both of the infants. Carson agreed to undertake the operation. A 70-member surgical team, led by Dr. Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently.
In addition to his surgical duties, Carson finds time at least twice a month to address groups of junior high school and high school students who visit the hospital. Carson has written two books Gifted Hands and Think Big.
THE GERRIT SMITH VIRTUAL MUSEUM
WILLIAM STILL-UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FOUNDATIONFATHER OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROADBibliography by Carole Marks, MLS '94, College
of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland.
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BIBLIOGRAPHYFOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN
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