Georg Olden became the first African American to design a U.S. postage stamp in 1963, when the Emancipation Proclamation stamp was issued.
Tag Archives: Today in History
National Negro Convention of 1843
Seventy-five delegates from twelve states gathered at the National Negro Convention of 1843 held in Buffalo, New York to discuss anti-slavery.
Victoria Jackson Gray-Adams | Mississippi Civil Rights Activist
Civil rights activist Victoria Jackson Gray-Adams died on August 12, 2006 at 79. Gray-Adams was a prominent civil rights activist in Mississippi.
PUSH Coca-Cola Boycott of 1987 | Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson and his coalition started the boycott against Coca-Cola in 1987 due to lack of black presentation on their staff and no support towards black owned businesses.
Alex Haley | Famous Writer
Famous African American writer Alex Haley was born on August 11, 1921.
Alex Haley is the author behind Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC turned the book into a television series which aired on January 23rd, 1977.
Michael Brown
On August 9, 2014 Police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year old unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
African Baptist Church | Oldest Black Church in Boston
On August 8, 1805, the African Baptist Church, Massachusetts’ oldest black church, was founded by Reverend Thomas Paul.
James Cameron | Lynching Survivor, Founder of America’s Black Holocaust Museum
James Cameron went on to found NAACP chapters in Madison, Wisconsin, Munchie and South Bend, Indiana. In 1998, Cameron founded America’s Black Holocaust Museum to showcase the history of lynching.
Today in History | The National Bar Association
On August 1, 1925 the Negro Bar Association is founded in Des Moines, Iowa. The Negro Bar Association later named the National Bar Association, was created to welcome black lawyers who were excluded from predominantly white law associations.
Deval Patrick | First Black Governor of Massachusetts
On July 31st, 1956, Deval Laurdine Patrick was born in Chicago, Illinois.
Deval Patrick was elected the first black governor of Massachusetts in 2006. He’s only the second black governor in U.S history.