September 6, 1866 Abolitionist and newspaper publisher Frederick Douglass becomes the first black person invited to serve as a delegate at a political convention in […]
Category: This Week in Black History
This Week in Black History
August 30, 1967 The U.S. Senate confirms the appointment of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson. Marshall, who argued before […]
This Week in Black History
August 24, 1950 Chicago attorney and social worker Edith Sampson is named the first black person to be appointed a U.S. delegate to the United […]
This Week in Black History
August 16, 1963 Television and advertising executive George Olden becomes the first black person to design a U.S. postage stamp when he creates a stamp […]
This Week in Black History
August 5, 1965 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil […]
This Week in Black History
Aug. 5, 1892 Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman gets a pension from Congress for her work as a nurse, scout and spy during the Civil […]
This Week in Black History
July 23, 1962 Georgia native Jackie Robinson, the first black player to play Major League Baseball in the modern era, becomes the first black person […]
This Week in Black History
July 18, 1863 The 54th Massachusetts volunteer army, composed of free black men, charges Fort Wagner in Charleston, S.C. The attack, featured in the film […]
This Week in Black History
July 9, 1893 Chicago physician Daniel Hale Williams, the nation’s first black cardiologist, performs the first successful open heart surgery at Provident Hospital, the nation’s […]
This Week in Black History
July 6, 2002 Former Compton resident Serena Williams wins her first Wimbledon tennis tournament, defeating her sister Venus, winning her first Grand Slam singles title […]