People, Locations, Episodes

Oseola McCarty, Domestic worker, and Philanthropist born

*Oseola McCarty was born on this date in 1908. She was an African American domestic and philanthropist.

Vernon Dahmer born

*Vernon Dahmer was born on this date in 1908.  He was an African American business owner and civil right activist. Born in the Kelly Settlement, Forrest County, Mississippi, his parents were Ellen Louvenia (Kelly) and George Washington Dahmer. George Dahmer was a Caucasian man identified as being an honest, hardworking man with outstanding integrity. His occupation was […]

Dorothy Hall McFarland, Early Childhood Educator born

*Dorothy McFarland was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black teacher (music and early childhood) and community activist. Dorothy Hall was born at 996 Iglehart Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. Raised in the Rondo community, her home was later added to the National Register of Historic Places due to her father’s civic […]

Edler G. Hawkins, Activist, and Minister born

Edler Garnett Hawkins was born on this date in 1908. He was an African American minister and civil rights activist through the Presbyterian Church.

Erna P. Harris, Journalist and Activist born.

*Erna P. Harris was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black journalist, businesswoman, and activist. Erna Prather Harris was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, to Frances A. “Frankie” and James E. Harris. Her father was a postman. As an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, he influenced his daughter’s later activism. Unlike most men in […]

The Empire States Federation of Women’s Clubs, a story

*On this date in 1908, we celebrate the beginning of the Empire State Federation of Women’s Clubs (ESFWC). Founded in Brooklyn by Alice Wiley Seay, the ESFWC is the umbrella organization of New York State African American women’s groups. The organization had two main goals: to do “uplift work among girls and young women” and care […]

The NAACP is Founded

*This date marks the anniversary of the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) in 1909.

Virginia McLaurin, Community Advocate, born

*Virginia McLaurin was born on this date in 1909. She was a Black seamstress, community volunteer, and supercentenarian. McLaurin was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. McLaurin said she “was birthed by a midwife and the birthday put in a Bible somewhere.” She worked in the fields, sharecropping with her parents as a child, shucking corn, and picking […]

Wally Nelson, Peace Activist born

*Wallace F. “Wally” Nelson was born on this date in 1909. He was an African American civil rights and peace activist.

The Holt Street Baptist Church Begins Services

*The Holt Street Baptist Church is established on this date in 1909. This was a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. The Holt Street Baptist Church building is located at the corner of Holt Street and Bullock Street and was completed in 1913. The first reverend was I.S. Fountain. From 1939 until 1952, Charles Kenzie Steele […]

Donella Brown Wilson, Voting Rights Advocate born

*Donella Brown Wilson was born on this date in 1909. She was a Black educator and voting rights advocate.  Donella Roberta Brown Wilson on the Peterkin Plantation in Fort Motte, SC, her grandparents and great-grandparents had worked as slaves. She was the only child of the late Henry Brown and Minnie Bryant Brown Logan. She […]

The NAACP Holds Its First Conference

On this date in 1909, the NAACP held its first conference, in New York City. Over 300 African Americans and Whites Americans attended.

Ida B. Wells Barrnett was a keynote speaker at the conference, condemning the lynching of Blacks in the United States.

Yusuf Dadoo, Anti-Apartheid Activist born.

Yusuf Dadoowas born on this date in 1909. He was a South African Coloured East Indian activist.   Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo was born in Krugersdorp, in the West Rand, near Johannesburg. His parents, Mohammed and Fatima Dadoo were Gujarati Muslim immigrants from Western India. As a young child, his mother scolded him for climbing a tree in […]

Frances Baard, South African Teacher and Union Activist born

*Frances Baard was born on this date in 1909. She was a South African activist, trade unionist, and organizer. Frances Goitsemang Maswabi was born Frances Maswabi in Green Point, Beaconsfield, Kimberley, South Africa. Her father was Herman Maswabi from Ramotswa in Botswana, and her mother, Sarah Voss, was a Tswana person from Kimberley. She attended the […]

Florence Matomela, South African Teacher and Activist born

*Florence Matomela was born on this date in 1910. She was a Black South African activist, communist, and teacher. From Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Florence Matomela raised five children while working as a teacher in the rural Eastern Cape. She also spent time in New Brighton township. Women’s activism in rural areas was often neglected, though […]