People, Locations, Episodes

The Chicago Conservator Newspaper is Published

*The first issue of The Chicago Conservator appeared on this date in 1878.   This was one of the first Black newspapers in Chicago.  It was founded by attorney Ferdinand Barnett in 1878 and co-edited with R. P. Bird. A.T. Hall served as the paper’s city editor during its early years. During his tenure as editor, […]

S. Edward Hall, Businessman, and Activist born

*S. Edward. Hall was born on this date in 1878. He was an African American businessman and civil rights activist.

One of five children (two brothers and two sisters), he was born in Elgin, Illinois to John and Julia Hall. He came to St. Paul in 1900, married his wife Hattie in 1906 and opened his barbershop with his brother Orrie the same year. His place of business was located on 6th street near downtown and many of his customers were prominent white entrepreneurs in the early years of the Minnesota milling industry, the McMillians, Pillsbury’s, James J. Hill and others.

A Black Man Receives the First of Two Patents for a Fire Escape Ladder

*On this date in 1878, J. R. Winters received a patent for the Fire Escape Ladder.  The Patent # 203,517. 

J. L. Wilkinson, Baseball Executive born

*J. L. Wilkinson was born on this date in 1878. He was a White American Black sports executive.

Born in Algona, Iowa, James Leslie Wilkinson grew up in Des Moines and attended Highland Park College.  While there he pitched for the baseball team while also playing professional and semiprofessional ball. An injury ended his playing career, but he remained on the management side of the game for the rest of his working life.

Jesse Max Barber, Dentist, and Journalist born

*Jesse Barber was born on this date in 1878. He was a Black journalist, teacher, and dentist. He was born in Blackstock, South Carolina, to parents who were formerly enslaved.    Jesse Max Barber was educated at Benedict College and Virginia Union University, where he was student editor of the University Journal and president of the Literary Society. After graduating in 1903, […]

George Grant, Merchant and Politician born

*George Grant was born on this date in 1878. He was a Black African merchant and politician on the Gold Coast. George Alfred Grant was born into an influential merchant family in Beyin, Western Nzema, Ghana. He was the son of William Minneaux Grant and Madam Adjua (Dwowa) Biatwi of the Aboradze clan. Grant was educated […]

A Black Inventor Patents a Library Table

On this date in 1878, African American innovator W. R. Davis Jr., patented the library table.
The patent number is, 208378.

Richard B. Spikes, Inventor born

*Richard B. Spikes was born on this date in 1878.  He was a Black barber and inventor.   Richard Bowie Spikes was born in Dallas, Texas, the fifth of nine children of Monroe Spikes, a barber, and his wife, Medora (Kirby) Spikes. Two of his younger brothers, John Curry and Reb, were musicians and songwriters (Someday […]

A Black Man Receives His Second Fire Escape Ladder Patent

*On this date in 1879, J. R. Winters received his second patent for the Fire Escape Ladder, patent # 214,224. Global Black Inventors

Moses McKissack, Architect born

*Moses McKissack, III, was born on this date in 1879. He was a Black architect. He was born in Pulaski, Tennessee, to Moses II and Dolly Ann McKissack. Early on, the young Moses McKissack worked with his father’s building, carpentry, and contracting business, a longstanding family tradition. By 1890, he was already apprenticing with James […]

Robert Lee Vann, News Publisher born

This date marks the birthday of Robert Lee Vann in 1879. He was an African American publisher, lawyer, and the editor of the Black newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier.

Frederick Roberts, Educator, and Politician born

*Frederick Madison Roberts was born on this date in 1879. He was an African American mortician, news editor, school principal and politician.

The California Eagle Newspaper is Published

*November 3rd is National Journalism Day, so on this date, we celebrate the first publication of the California Eagle from 1879, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in America.   John James Neimore founded the newspaper The Owl that year to serve new arrivals to Los Angeles during the Great Migration when millions of African Americans left the Deep South. The paper offered […]

Richard S. Roberts, Photographer born

The birth of Richard Samuel Roberts in 1880, an African American still photographer, is celebrated on this date.

George Haynes, Urban League Co-Founder born

*The birth of George Haynes in 1880 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American social worker, educator, and cofounder and first executive director of the National Urban League.