People, Locations, Episodes

G. J. Sutton, Civic Leader born

*G.J. Sutton was born on this date in 1909. He was a Black civil rights leader and politician.   His birth name was Garlington Jerome (G.J.). He was the eighth of fifteen children. His parents, Samuel and Lillian, were both educators in Bexar County. He also served as principal of three high schools. All of his siblings graduated […]

A Black Man Receives A Patent For A Beer Tapper

*On this date in 1909, Richard B. Spikes received a patent for a Beer Tapper. The Milwaukee Brewing Company purchased his invention.  U.S. Patent #928813.

L. Alex Wilson, Teacher, News Journalist, and Activist

*L. Alex Wilson’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1909. He was a Black teacher, school principal, journalist, activist, and editor. Lucious Alexander Wilson was born in Florida. After being confronted by members of the Ku Klux Klan when he was younger and fleeing, he decided he would never run from racism again. As a child, […]

Mechanics, and Farmers Bank Opens

On this date in 1909, Mechanics and Farmers Bank in Durham, N. C., opened for business. It is an African American savings and loan institution.

As a state-chartered commercial bank, M&FB was organized in 1907 under a charter issued by the Legislature of the State of North Carolina. The original incorporaters were a group of nine businessmen: R. B. Fitzgerald, J. S. Dodson, J. R. Hawkins, John Merrick, Aaron M. Moore, W. G. Pearson, James E. Shepard, G. W. Stephens, and Stanford L. Warren.

Ruby McCollum, Businesswoman born.

*Ruby McCollum was born on this date in 1909. She was a wealthy married Black woman known for being arrested and convicted in 1952 for killing a white paramour, doctor, and politician. Ruby Jackson was born to Gertrude and William Jackson in Zuber, Florida. She was the second child and first daughter of six children. […]

The Clef Club, (NYC) Opens

*On November 10, 1909, we celebrate the Clef Club of New York City, Inc., founded in New York by James Reese Europe and his associates.   They were a fraternal and professional organization for the advancement of Black musicians and entertainers.  The Clef Club was a popular entertainment venue and society in Harlem, achieving its largest success in the 1910s. Incorporated […]

The New York Amsterdam News is Founded

On this date in 1909, the New York Amsterdam News was founded. It has been one of the leading Black weekly newspapers for almost 100 years.

Marion Turner Stubbs, Civic Organizer born

*Marion Turner Stubbs Thomas, born on this date in 1910. She was a Black socialite and civic organizer.  From Philadelphia, PA., Marion Turner was the daughter of Dr. John Patrick Turner and Mrs. Marion Turner. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1930, attended the Sorbonne, and received a music degree from Zeckwer Hahn […]

The Pittsburgh Courier Newspaper is Founded

*On this date we remember the founding of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper in 1910.

For several decades the Courier was among the most influential African American Newspapers in the United States. Founded by Edwin Nathaniel Harlston, a security guard with an interest in literature, the weekly publication was guided to prominence by editor Robert L. Vann, an attorney and friend of Harlston’s. Within that same year Harlston had resigned from the ownership group. The Black population of Pittsburgh was about 25,000 when the first issue of the Courier hit the streets.

The National Urban League is Founded

This date marks the founding of the National Urban League (NUL) in 1911. The National Urban League is a nonprofit social service and civil rights organization with headquarters in New York City.

Dearfield, Colorado is Founded

*On this date in 1910, Dearfield, Colorado was founded.  Dearfield is presently a ghost town and a former historically black majority settlement in Weld County, Colorado.  James Smith and J.M. Thomas of Denver planted 100 acres of winter wheat that day after arriving through the Great Migration.  It is 30 miles east of Greeley and […]

The Howard Theatre (Washinton D.C.) Opens

*The Howard Theatre Opened on this date in 1910.  This is a historic theater located at 620 T Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., Constructed in 1910; the theater was founded and owned by the National Amusement Company, a white-owned group.  When built, it had a capacity of more than 1,200.   Designed by J. Edward Storck, […]

The Crisis Magazine Is Published

*On this date in 1910, The Crisis magazine was published. This is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, William Stanley Braithwaite, and Mary Dunlop Maclean. The Crisis has been in continuous print since 1910, the oldest black-oriented magazine in […]

John H. Hammond II, Music Critic, born

*John Hammond II was born on this date in 1910. From the 1930s to the early 1980s, he was a white-American record producer, civil rights activist, and music critic.   John Henry Hammond II was born in New York and christened John Henry Hammond Jr., the youngest child and only son of John Henry Hammond and Emily Vanderbilt Sloane. […]

Frances Rains, Nurse, and Businesswoman born

*On this date in 1911, Frances Mary McHie Rains was born. She was an African American nurse, community worker, educator and businesswoman.

From Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a young girl Frances McHie wanted to become a social worker mainly due to her exposure to a local activist and businesswoman W. Gertrude Brown. After high school she attempted to enroll at the University of Minnesota’s school of Nursing. After being turned down because she was Black, Minnesota senator Sylvanus A. “S.A.” Stockwell and Mrs. Brown brought the issues and young Frances before the state legislature.