People, Locations, Episodes

William T. Francis, Minnesota Lawyer born

On his date, we mark the birth of William T. Francis in 1869. He was an African American politician and lawyer.

Francis was born in Indiana and went to Minnesota at an early age. After completing his education, he served in the legal department of Northern Pacific Railroad. Francis opened his own law firm in St. Paul before World War II.

In 1920, he was president-elector at the Republican State Convention. Francis and his wife were instrumental in getting an anti-lynching law passed in the Minnesota State Senate in the 1920s.

The Knights of Labor (Union) is Founded

*The Knights of Labor (KOL) began on this date in 1869. Founded in Philadelphia, the Knights of Labor was America’s largest labor union in the 19th century. Uriah Stephens founded it, and James L. Wright and a small group of Philadelphia tailors founded a secret organization, the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. Created […]

Marion Wilkinson, Activist born.

*Marion Wilkinson was born on this date in 1870. She was a Black suffragist and community activist. Marion B. Wilkinson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest daughter of Richard Birnie and Anna Frost Birnie. Her family’s status and relative wealth enabled her to attend the Avery Normal Institute, where she developed an ethic […]

Lugeina B. Hope, Social Reformer born

*This date marks the birth of Lugenia Burns Hope in 1871. She was an African American social reformer.

John Chilembwe, African Activist, and Educator born

*John Chilembwe’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1871. He was a Black African minister, activist, and educator.   John Chilembwe was born in Sangano, Chiradzulu District, in southern what became Nyasaland.  His pre-baptismal name was Nkologo.  Chilembwe’s father was a Yao, and his mother, a Mang’anja slave, captured in warfare.  Chilembwe’s granddaughter stated that Chilembwe’s father might have been called […]

Oswald Villard, Journalist, and Activist born

*Oswald Villard was born on this date in 1872. He was a white-American journalist, editor, and civil rights activist.    Oswald Garrison Villard was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, on March 13, 1872, while his parents lived there. He was the son of Henry Villard, an American newspaper correspondent who had been an immigrant from Germany, and Fanny (Garrison) Villard, daughter of abolitionist William […]

Minnie Crosthwaite, Social Worker born

Minnie Lee Crosthwaite’s birth in 1872 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American social worker and community leader.

Born and raised Minnie Lee Harris, she was a product of Nashville, Tennessee. She attended Fisk University in her hometown and taught first grade in a Nashville public school for two years. She resigned her teaching position in 1889 to marry David N. Crosthwaite, the principal of the first all-Black high school in Nashville. In 1895 they moved to Kansas City, where Crosthwaite’s husband had accepted a job teaching at Lincoln High School.

Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry, Philanthropist born

*The birth of Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry is celebrated on this date in 1872. She was a Black philanthropist and activist. Fredericka Douglass Sprague was born in Rochester, New York. She was the granddaughter of Frederick Douglass and the fifth oldest of seven children of Rosetta Douglass Sprague and Nathan Sprague. She attended public school in Washington, DC, […]

Ionia Rollin Whipper, Obstetrician born

*Ionia Rollin Whipper was born on this date in 1872.  She was a Black obstetrician and public health outreach worker.   Both of Whipper’s parents were from Beaufort, South Carolina, and were from Black families that had been free before the American Civil War. Her father, the lawyer William James Whipper, moved from Philadelphia to […]

Geraldine Trotter, Publisher, and Activist born

*Geraldine Trotter was born on this date in 1872.  She was a Black publisher, editor, writer, and activist.  From Everett, MA., Geraldine Pindell was the daughter of Charles Edward Pindell and Mary Francis Pindell.  Pindell received her initial education at the Everett Grammar School, then enrolled in a local business college. For ten years after […]

Albert Meyzeek, Educator, and Activist born

*Albert Meyzeek was born on this date in 1872. He was a Black educator and activist. Albert Ernest Meyzeek was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of John E. and Mary (Lott) Meyzeek. He spent his early childhood years in Toronto, Canada. His father, of Huguenot French ancestry, married Mary Lott, a Black woman, in […]

The Colfax Massacre Occurs

*On this date in 1873, the Colfax Massacre happened. Also called the Colfax Riot, the violence erupted in Grant Parish Courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana.

Mary Dunlop Maclean, Journalist born

*Mary Dunlop Maclean was born on this date in 1873.  She was a white-American writer, journalist, and first managing editor of The Crisis from 1909 until her death.   Mary Dunlop Johnson was born to Harriet Darling Johnson and Samuel Otis Johnson in Nassau, Bahamas. Her mother, a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Paul Dudley Sargent and Governor John Winthrop, […]

Ludie Clay Andrews, Nurse, and Nursing Advocate born

*Ludie Clay Andrews was born on this date in 1874. She was a Black nurse and administrator. Ludie Clay Andrews, a Mulatto was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she graduated from Eddy High School. Shortly after, she entered nurse training at MacVicar Hospital at Spelman College in Atlanta, graduating in 1906. Spelman College later closed its nursing […]

Nellie F. Francis, Suffragist born

*Nellie Francis was born on this date in 1874.  She was a Black suffragist, racial justice advocate, and activist.   Nellie F. Griswold was born in Nashville, Tennessee.  Her parents were Maggie Seay and Thomas Garrison Griswold, and she had a sister, Lula Griswold Chapman, who died in 1925.  Her grandmother was Nellie Seay, a house slave to Colonel Robert Allen, […]