People, Locations, Episodes

Minnie Cox, Teacher, and Administrator born

*The birth of Minnie Cox in 1869 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American teacher, and postal administrator.

Sylvester Williams, Pan-African Politician born

*Sylvester Williams was born on this date in 1869. He was a Black activist, lawyer, and politician.

One of five children, he was born in Trinidad. His father was a wheelwright who had originally come from Barbados. A talented student young Williams qualified as a schoolteacher in 1886 and became a principal two years later. He was interested in politics and in 1890 helped establish the Trinidad Elementary Teachers Union. One year later, Williams moved to New York where he worked as shoe-shiner. Later he studied law at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia but left before graduating.

John L. Thompson, Lawyer born

The birth of John Lay Thompson in 1869 is marked on this date. He was an African American businessman and lawyer.

Thompson was a native of Iowa’s Decatur County, and a graduate of the Iowa Business College in 1896 and Drake University’s law school in 1898. He secured political positions considered especially prestigious for African Americans in an age of tokenism and unchecked discrimination. A Republican, Thompson was appointed file clerk for the Iowa Senate in 1894 and file clerk for the Iowa General Assembly in 1896.

Voter Suppression in America, an article

*In 1870, Voter Suppression in the United States is addressed. Voter Suppression concerns various legal and illegal efforts to prevent eligible voters from exercising their right to vote. Where found, such voter suppression efforts vary by state, local government, precinct, and election. Separately, there have also been various efforts to enfranchise and disenfranchise various voters […]

The Enforcement Act of 1870 is Passed

*On this date, the Enforcement Act of 1870 was passed.   It is also known as the Civil Rights Act, First Ku Klux Klan Act, or Force Act. It was an American federal law written to empower the President with the legal authority to enforce the first section of the Fifteenth Amendment throughout the United States. The act was the first of three Enforcement Acts passed by the United States Congress from 1870 to […]

Henry Lincoln Johnson, Lawyer, and Politician born

*Henry Lincoln Johnson was born on this date in 1870.  He was a Black lawyer and politician. The son of former slaves Martha Ann and Peter Johnson, Johnson was from Augusta, Georgia. Known to family and friends as “Linc,” he attended Clark Atlanta University and graduated in 1888. Johnson obtained a law degree in 1892 […]

The Black and Tan, and Lily-White (Political Factions), a story

*On this date, 1870, We remember the Black-and-Tan and the Lily-White political factions.  They were political coalitions in the American Republican Party in the South from the 1870s to the 1960s. Southern Republicans were divided into two groups: The Lily-white faction, which was practically all-white, and the biracial black-and-tan faction, which replaced the Negro Republican Party faction’s name after Reconstruction in the 1890s.  The lily-white […]

The Black Seminole Scouts are Formed

*On this date in 1870, Black Seminole Scouts are remembered.  Also known as the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts or Seminole Scouts, they were commissioned by the United States Army. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some Native Seminoles. However, because most of the Seminole scouts were of African descent, they were often attached to the Buffalo Soldier regiments to guide the troops through […]

John Langalibalele Dube, Essayist, and Politician born

*John Langalibalele Dube was born on this date in 1871. He was a Black South African activist, essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist, and poet. John Langalibalele was born in Natal at the Inanda mission station of the American Zulu Mission (AZM), South Africa. This was a branch of the American Board of Commissioners […]

Oscar De Priest, Chicago Politician born

On this date, we recall the birth of Oscar Stanton De Priest in 1871. He was the first African American to win a seat in the U. S. House of Representatives in the 20th century.

William H. Davis, Government Administrator born.

*William H. Davis was born on this date in 1872. He was a Black educator, pharmacist, and American government official. William Henry Davis was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to former slaves Jerry and Susan Davis. He graduated from Louisville Colored High School in June 1888 at 16, second in his class of eighteen students. Davis […]

The First Black Woman In America Is Admitted To Practice Law

On this date in 1872, Charlotte E. Ray became the first Black woman admitted to practice before the district Supreme Court (Washington D.C.).

Blacks Serge Politically During Reconstruction

On this date in 1872, the Republican National Convention met in Philadelphia. Held during Reconstruction, this gathering was filled with substantial Black representation from Southern states.

For the first time in American History, three Blacks addressed a major national political convention: Robert B. Elliot, chairman of the South Carolina delegation; Joseph H. Rainey, South Carolina delegate; and John R. Lynch, Mississippi delegate.

Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for president and Henry Wilson for vice president.

Blaise Diagne, Legislator, and Diplomat born

*Blaise Diagne was born on this date in 1872. He was a Black Senegalese and French political leader. He was born Gnagna Anthony Pereira Diagne in Gorée to a Senegalese Lebu father (Niokhor Diagne), a cook and sailor, and a Manjack mother of Guinea-Bissau origin. They baptized him as “Blaise.”  He studied in France before joining the […]

William A. White, Canadian Minister and Soldier born

*William A. White II was born on this date in 1874. He was a Black Nova Scotian minister and soldier. William Andrew White II was born to formerly enslaved people in King and Queen County, Virginia. He moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he lived with his brother and attended Wayland Seminary in Washington. After a […]