People, Locations, Episodes

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.

The Lincoln Giants Baseball Team, a story

*The Lincoln Giants are celebrated on this date in 1911. They were a Negro Baseball League team based in New York City. The Lincoln Giants can trace their origins back to the Nebraska Indians of Lincoln, Nebraska, from the 1890s. According to Sol White’s History of Colored Base Ball, in 1890, the Lincoln Giants were founded as the first […]

Lucile Bluford, Publisher born

On this date in 1911 Lucile Bluford was born. She was an African American news publisher and businesswoman.

Her name became known outside the city when she sued the University of Missouri for denying her entry to its graduate journalism program. Lincoln University, the historically black university, didn’t have a journalism program so MU was ordered to admit her. Unwilling to do so, the university suspended offering graduate journalism courses in order to keep her from attending. Years later, she would receive the University of Missouri’s esteemed Honor Medal and an honorary doctorate.

Ethel L. Payne, Journalist, and Publisher born

*Ethel Lois Payne was born on this date in 1911. She was an African American Journalist, publisher, civil rights leader, and educator; often called the “First Lady of the Black Press.”

Lazer Sidelsky, South African Activist born

Lazer Sidelsky was born on this date in 1911. He was a White Jewish South African lawyer and activist who was a mentor to former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Mary Kenner, Inventor born

*Mary Kenner was born on this date in 1912. She was a Black businesswoman and inventor.   Mary Beatrice Davidson was born in Monroe, North Carolina, and came from a family of inventors. Her father, whom she credited with her initial interest in discovery, was Sidney Nathaniel Davidson, who patented a clothing press that would fit […]

Charlezetta Waddle, Community Activist born

Charleszetta Campbell Waddles was born on this date in 1912. She was an African American administrator and churchwoman.

Born in St. Louis, MO, she was one of seven children of Henry and Ella Brown Campbell; only three of the seven children lived to adulthood. Her father died in 1924 and with her mother’s failing health a factor, Campbell left school in the eighth grade to work. As a single parent of several children young Campbell went on AFDC and educated herself by reading. Married several times, she and her husband LeRoy Wash migrated to Detroit, MI in 1936.

John Sengstacke, Newspaper Publisher born

John Sengstacke was born on this date in 1912. He was an African American publisher of Chicago’s Black newspaper, Chicago Defender. The newspaper was founded in 1905 by Sengstacke’s uncle, Robert S. Abbott, and had a strong voice in Chicago’s African American communities. The Chicago Defender was a widely read black newspaper. At the time, it had a circulation of about 25,000.

Oliver Harrington, Cartoonist born

*This date marks the birth of Oliver Harrington in 1913. He was an African American cartoonist best known for his character Bootsie.