People, Locations, Episodes

Lena O. Smith, Minnesota Lawyer born

*This date marks the birth of Lena O. Smith in 1885. She was an African American attorney and civil rights advocate.

Robert Ogle, Policy Administrator born.

*Robert Ogle was born on this date in 1886. He was a Black public policy administrator. Born to Jeremiah and Mary Ellen Ogle in Washington, D.C., Robert Harold Ogle attended M Street School, one of the top preparatory schools for African Americans. Ogle secured one of the spots available, and upon completion in 1905, he […]

William L. Dawson, Politician born

*William Levi Dawson was born on this date in 1886 in Albany, Georgia. He was the first African American to chair a regular House of Representatives committee.

Norma Boyd, Teacher, and Administrator born

*Norma Boyd was born on this date in 1888. She was a Black teacher, public policy activist, and administrator. Norma Elizabeth Boyd was born and educated in public schools in Washington, D.C. In September 1906, Boyd attended Howard University’s College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in math. It was when only 1/3 of 1% of […]

Hazel M. Walker, Ohio Educator, and Lawyer born

*Hazel Mountain Walker was born on this date in 1889. She was an African American lawyer and educator.

From Warren, Ohio, she was the daughter of Charles and Alice (Bronson) Mountain. Walker attended Cleveland Normal Training School and in 1909 earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Education from Western Reserve University. During the summers, when she was not teaching, Walker worked towards a Law Degree at Baldwin-Wallace College.

John Morton-Finney, Lawyer, and Educator born

*John Morton-Finney was born on this date in 1889. He was a Black civil rights activist, lawyer, and educator. Morton Finney was born in Uniontown, Kentucky, to George and Maryatta “Mattie” (Gordon) Finney, a former slave father and a free mother. He was one of the family’s seven children. When his mother died in 1903, […]

Wysinger v. Crookshank is Filed

*On this date, in 1889, Wysinger v. Crookshank was filed.  This was the first case that rendered school segregation of blacks in California contrary to the law. On October 1, 1888, 58-year-old Edmond Wysinger, a former black slave who bought his freedom working in the California mines, moved to Visalia, California. When he attempted to […]

Black History and American Fusion Politics, a story

*Black History and American Fusion Politics are affirmed on this date in 1890. This is a national manifestation of business in a society centered on citizen and common populace uplift. After the American Civil War, fusion politics united political parties briefly and has ebbed and flowed with intended progressive, independent, self-governing results. In some western states, […]

Howard Drew, Athlete and Lawyer born

Howard Drew was born on this date in 1890. He was an African American track and field athlete, and lawyer and judge.

He was born in Lexington, KY, the son of David Drew, a Baptist minister. Around the age of ten, he and his family moved and settled in Springfield, MA. Drew won his first track meet with home-made shorts, and non-spike shoes. From there he made his first pair of track shoes by driving six nails through his regular shoes and using leather pieces to protect his feet.

The ‘Mississippi Plan’ Begins

*On this date in 1890, The Mississippi Constitutional Convention began systematic exclusion of Blacks from the politics of South.

The Mississippi Plan (Literacy and “understanding tests”) lasted until November 1st of that year and was later adopted with embellishments by other states: South Carolina (1895), Louisiana (1898), North Carolina (1900), Alabama (1901), Virginia (1901), Georgia (1908), and Oklahoma (1910). Southern states later used “White primaries” and other devices to exclude Black voters.

Marian Fleming Poe, Lawyer born

*Marian Fleming Poe was born on this date in 1890. She was a Black lawyer and women’s advocate. Lavinia Marian Fleming was born in Warwick County, Virginia, to Archer R. Fleming, a blacksmith and formerly enslaved person, and Florence M. Carter. She grew up in Newport News, Virginia. In 1910, she married Abram James Poe […]

James Morris Sr., News Publisher born

*James B. Morris Sr. was born on this date in 1890. He was a Black lawyer and newspaper businessman.  From Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of twelve, he began working in a little print shop in Covington, a suburb of Atlanta,”‘ “After completing his grammar school in Atlanta, Morris moved to Baltimore, where he attended […]

Earl Dickerson, Chicago Civic Leader born

On this date in 1891, Earl B. Dickerson was born. He was an African American attorney, teacher, and businessman.

William L. Patterson, Activist born

*William Lorenzo Patterson was born on this date in 1891.  He was a Black activist.  Born in San Francisco, California, his father, James Edward Patterson, was from St. Vincent in the British Virgin Islands.  His mother, Mary Galt Patterson, was born a slave in Virginia.  She was the daughter of the organizer of a volunteer regiment of black soldiers who fought with the Union […]

Henry L. Johnson, Soldier born

*Henry Johnson was born on this date in 1892. He was a decorated African American soldier in WW1.