People, Locations, Episodes

Freddie Stowers, Soldier born

*Freddie Stowers was born on this date in 1896. He was a Black corporal in the United States Army. Stowers was born in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, and was the grandson of slaves. As a young adult, he worked as a farmhand and married a woman named Pearl, with whom he had one daughter, Minnie […]

Ethiopia Wins The Battle Of Adwa

On this date in 1896, Ethiopia defeated the Italian colonial army in the Battle of Adwa. This victory signaled the decline of European colonialism in Black Africa.

When Black African Menelik II came to the Ethiopian throne in 1889, the Italians thought that he would surrender power to them because they had been supplying him with arms. In May of that year Menelik signed the Treaty of Wichale, giving the Italians some land in Tigre and the adjacent highlands.

The 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps is formed

*On this date in 1896, the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps was formed, the first of its kind in the country. This predominantly Black regiment was part of the United States Army. Fort Missoula’s 2nd Lieutenant James A. Moss, a native of Louisiana and a West Point graduate, led the Corps. He was an avid cyclist […]

The Spanish-American War is Declared

The Spanish-American War was declared on this date in 1898. In this conflict the Black men of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalries further proved their military abilities in battles and in guarding the Mexican border.

Members of both regiments fought in Cuba, participating in the battle at San Juan Hill in eastern Cuba, near the city of Santiago de Cuba. It was the scene (July, 1898) where Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders took part. The Tenth also served under General John J. Pershing in the expedition against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.

The Sixth Regiment Volunteer Infantry is formed

*The Sixth Regiment, United States Volunteer Infantry, was formed on this date in 1898. Also known as the ‘Sixth Immunes,’ they were mustered into service that summer and served their term of service in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico. The Sixth was one of ten volunteer infantry regiments authorized by President McKinley during the […]

Needham Roberts, Soldier born

*Needham Roberts was born on this date in 1901. He was a decorated African American World War I US Army Soldier.

From Trenton, NJ., Needham Roberts was the son of a pastor. In 1917, he left his job as a drugstore clerk to enlist in the Army and serve his county. He was 15 or 16 years old at the time. He lied to the recruiter and told him he was 19 so he could join. He was assigned to the New York Fifteenth Infantry, which later became the 369th Infantry (“Harlem’s Hellfighters”). He was sent to France with his regiment where they were put under the control of the French Army.

The Herero And Namaqua Genocide Occurs

*On this date, in 1904, the Herero and Namaqua genocide began. This was a white atrocity against a Black community in Africa between 1904 and 1908. The conflict was one of the first colonial rebellions after the Berlin Conference. This was the high point of white European competition for African territory, a process commonly known as […]

The ‘Brownsville Affair’ Occurs

*The “Brownsville Affair” of 1906 is remembered on this date. This was a racial incident from tensions between whites in Brownsville, Texas and Black infantrymen in the U.S. Army stationed at nearby Fort Brown.

Harriet Pickens, Naval Officer born

*Harriet Pickens was born on this date in 1909. She was a Black administrator and Naval officer.  Harriet Ida Pickens, the daughter of William Pickens, one of the founders of the NAACP, was from New York City. She graduated from Wadleigh High School in 1926 and Smith College in 1930. Returning to New York, she […]

Hamid Awate, Military Commander born.

*Hamid Awate was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black Eritrean guerrilla commander. Idris Hamid Awate was born in Gerset, in southwestern Italian Eritrea. His father, a peasant, trained him as early as childhood in the use of guns. Hamid was of Tigre and Nara descent. In 1935, Hamid was drafted and […]

Frances Wills, Naval Officer born

*This date in 1910 is celebrated as the birth date of Frances Wills, a Black writer and naval officer.  Frances Eliza Wills was born in Philadelphia; after high school, she attended Hunter College in New York City.  She was a Hunter College graduate who had worked with poet Langston Hughes while pursuing her MA in […]

Mac Ross, Military Pilot born.

*Mac Ross was born on this date in 1912. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot. Mac Ross was born in rural Dallas County near Selma, Alabama, the son of Eddie Samuel “Sam” Ross and Willie B. Collins Ross. He had eight siblings: Eddie, Sammy, Jerry, Arthur, Suritha, Geniva, […]

Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American Military Pioneer born

Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., was born on this date in 1912. He was an African American army officer and military activist.

The Harlem Hellfighters (Infantry) are Commissioned

*The Harlem Hell fighters were commissioned on this date in, 1913. They were an all black WWI 369th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army.

Olivia J. Hooker, Tulsa Professor born

*Olivia Hooker was born on this date in 1915. She was a Black psychologist and professor. Olivia J. Hooker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. At the age of six, during the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, Ku Klux Klan members ransacked her home while she hid under a table with her three siblings. Hooker later was […]