People, Locations, Episodes

The Chanteys, Work Songs with African Roots

This date’s Registry looks at the origins of the Chanteys in 1882. A Chantey is a style of choral singing associated with black slave labor in the early United States.

America’s First Shoe Lasting Machine is Patented

*On this date in 1883, a Black inventor patented the first shoe lasting machine.

Jan Matzeliger from Dutch Guiana revolutionized the shoe industry with his invention, patent #274,207.

Hartshorn Memorial College Opens

*The opening of Hartshorn Memorial College opened on this date in 1883.  One of over 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in America, this school started classes in Richmond, Virginia, until 1932, when it merged into Virginia Union University.   Hartshorn Memorial College was created as a college for African American women’s education.  The college’s namesake, Joseph C. Hartshorn, donated the school […]

The Berlin Conference Convenes

*On this date in 1884, The Berlin Conference convened.  It marked the high point of white European competition for African territory, commonly known as the Scramble for Africa. After America’s Emancipation from African slavery and its Reconstruction era came a period of white-European dissonance.  During the 1870s and early 1880s, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, […]

The First Black Bishop in America is Consecrated

On this date in 1885, Samuel David Ferguson was consecrated as bishop (Saint John the Baptist’s Feast Day), at Grace Church, New York, becoming the first Black member of the House of Bishopsin the Episcopal Church.

He was born in 1842 in Charleston, S.C., and immigrated with his family to Liberia in 1848. As Missionary Bishop of Liberia, he founded what is now Cuttington University College and established the Bromley Mission School. He served until his death in Monrovia on August 2, 1916.

Slavery is Abolished in Cuba

*On this date, in 1886, slavery was abolished in Cuba.  Slavery in Cuba was associated with labor demand to support the sugar cane plantations. It existed on the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by royal decree. The first organized slavery in Cuba was introduced by Spanish colonialists who attacked […]

The Dawes Act is Passed

*On this date, in 1887, The Dawes Act was passed.   Named after white-American Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it is also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act.   The intersectionality between African Americans and Native Americans was affected by this legal episode. It authorized the President of the United States to subdivide Native American tribal landholdings into allotments for Native American heads […]

Brazil Abolishes Slavery

On this date in 1888, Brazil abolished slavery.

The ‘Navassa Island Riot’ ocurrs

*The ‘Navassa Island Riot’ is affirmed on this date in 1889. Navassa Island is a small uninhabited island northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba. In September 1875, the fierce 1875 Indianola hurricane swept over the island, destroying much of the company’s infrastructure, including the rail line and workers’ homes. The storm caused an estimated $25,000 […]

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 […]

San Juan Hill (New York City), a story

*On this date in 1880, San Juan Hill is celebrated on the Registry. This was an African American, Afro Caribbean, and Puerto Rican community in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the largest Black communities in New York City before World War I.  59th Street bound San Juan Hill to the south, West End Avenue to the west, 65th Street to the […]

The First Black Man Becomes Boxing Champ in America

*On this in 1890, George “Little Chocolate” Dixon knocked out Cal McCarthy.

Dixon became the first Black world champion in boxing and the first Black man to hold an American title in any sport.

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.

The Red Cap Pullman Porters, a story

*The Red Cap Porter profession is marked on this date in 1890.  This is a profession associated with post-Reconstruction African American heritage.  It was a practice of railroad station porters to wear red-colored caps to distinguish them from blue-capped train personnel with other duties.   The first Red Cap was worn by a Black porter on Labor Day 1890 […]

A Refrigerator Device is Patented by a Black Man

On this date in 1891, John Standard from Newark, NJ, received a patent for a refrigerator.

Specifications of the patent are as follows: This invention relates to improvements in refrigerators; and it consists of certain novel arrangements and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and final led embodied in the clauses of the claim. PDF version U.S. Patent 455,891 (130K), p.958-959.