Little Known Black History Facts
March is Women’s History Month. What better way to kick it off than with first Lady, Michelle Obama. Michelle LaVaughn Obama is the first African-American first lady of the country, and a south-side Chicago native. Raised in a low-income neighborhood in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and brother, Michelle and her brother Craig slept […]
After more than 100 years, the U.S. Census Bureau will drop the term “Negro” from its race description and use the term black or African American. The term Negro was first used in the 1900 census, replacing the word “colored.” The term “Negro” originated with the Portuguese and Spanish explorers who used the actual word […]
Today, President Obama will present the unveiling of a magnificent 9-foot statue of Rosa Parks in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill. This year marks the 100th birthday of the civil rights icon. The statue will be the first of an African American woman in our nations’ Capitol. On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested […]
Professional stone mason August Williams was one of only two African American constructors that built the Martin Luther King Memorial at the National Mall. Williams was a masonry student of New Orleans who was taught to do everything the old-fashioned way, by hand. He worked as an on-call minute-man before taking on larger products like […]
Deshawn Parker is the most successful black horse jockey in today’s modern derbies with over 4,000 victories. In a sport that is now dominated by Latinos, Parker is the 54th highest-ranking jockey in racing history. Today, only 30 of the approximate 750 members of the national Jockey’s Guild are African American. According to recent stats, […]
Yesterday marked what would be the 80th birthday of legendary singer Nina Simone. Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, Nina Simone’s music was a soundtrack of civil rights. She was a student at Julliard until she ran out of money. She was later rejected by Curtis Institute of Music because she was black. Despite the odds, Nina […]
Virginia Key Beach was designed as a unique vacation spot strictly for blacks in 1945. Built in Dade County, Virginia Key Beach was the answer to Florida’s whites-only beach problem pre-civil rights. Prior to its establishment, NAACP activists staged a “wade-in” at nearby Baker’s Haulover Beach, which was whites-only. Although the organization had hoped for […]
Bob Motley is the only living umpire of Negro League Baseball. A shot-calling legend, Motley is known for his splits, lunges and dramatic calls at the plate. It was Motley who made the game-time decisions with Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Willie Mays on the field. Bob Motley was not only a Negro […]
Sixteen year-old African-American tennis champ, Taylor Townsend, has just won the first qualifying round at the WTA Memphis Tennis Championships. The young athlete finished out last season as the top-ranked junior tennis world champion. Her keen success led the U.S. to victory in the 2012 Junior Fed Cup team competition. Taylor Townsend is a Chicago […]
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first black gospel music star of the 1930’s. Born Rosetta Nubin Tharpe in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, she was the first gospel artist to record for a major label and the first to cross to secular music. Tharpe started performing “Jesus is on the Main Line” at age four before touring […]
A grad student at the University of Texas in Arlington has found a rare new poem written by the first black published writer in America, Jupiter Hammon. Hammon was born into slavery in 1711. While researching Hammon’s poems, Julie McCown found the 200-plus-year-old manuscript buried in the archives at Yale University Library in Connecticut. The […]
The earliest known traditional hats in history were worn in thebes and seen on ancient Egyptian murals. Next there were Phrygian caps that were worn by the freed slaves in Rome, signifying their independence. As the centuries went by, the traditional use of hats worn by women in church is said to originate from the […]
