People, Locations, Episodes

William Dawson is Elected as America’s First Black Standing Committee Chairman

On this date in 1949, Rep. William L. Dawson of Illinois was elected chairman of House Expenditures Committee in Congress.

He was the first African American chairman of a standing congressional committee in the United States.

Janice Brown, Judge born

*Janice Rogers Brown was born on this date in 1949. She is an African American judge.

From Laverne, Alabama, she attended segregated schools because there was no other opportunity for her to receive an education. She says, her family believed that change would come. At an early age, Rogers witnessed the day in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. She recalls seeing her grandmother running across the street from her uncle’s house shouting, “They did it! Thank God, they did it!”

Webb v. School District No. 90 is decided

*On this date in 1949, Webb v. School District No. 90 was decided. This Supreme Court case involved 39 Black students fighting for educational rights. Background Population growth after World War II prompted the construction of a new $90,000—South Park Elementary School near Merriam, Kansas. The district school board had unlawfully established Walker School for […]

Sahle-Work Zewde, Diplomat born

*Sahle-Work Zewde was born on this date in 1950. She is an Ethiopian politician and diplomat.  Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sahle-Work attended elementary and secondary school at Lycée Guebre-Mariam, after which she studied natural science at the University of Montpellier, France. She is fluent in Amharic, French, and English. A veteran in the Ethiopian foreign […]

Melanie Lomax, Lawyer and Activist born.

*Melanie Lomax was born on this date in 1950. She was a Black civil rights lawyer and former head of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Melanie Elizabeth Lomax was the daughter of Lucius W. Lomax, Jr., an attorney, and Hallie Almena Davis Lomax, a civil rights activist and editor of the Los Angeles […]

Briggs v. Elliott is Filed

On this date in 1950, Briggs v. Elliott, a civil Rights case was filed. This legal maneuver assisted the groundwork for Brown v. the Board of Education 4 years later, was filed.

McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents is Ruled

* On this date 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal conditions were unattainable in graduate and professional education in the McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents.

Sweatt v. Painter is Ruled

*Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) was decided on this date in 1950.   This U.S. Supreme Court case successfully challenged the “separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation established by the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson. Four years later, the case was influential in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. The case involved a Black man, Heman Marion […]

David Duke, White Supremacist born.

*David Duke was born on this date in 1950. He is a white-American politician, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. David Ernest Duke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Maxine (née Crick) and David Hedger Duke, the younger of two children. As the son of an engineer for Shell Oil Company, Duke frequently moved with his family […]

The 24th Infantry Black Troop Achieves The First American Korean War Victory

On this date in 1950, the first US victory in Korea was won by Black troops in the Army’s 24th Infantry Regiment.

The victory happened at Yechon, where Captain Charles M. Bussey, a World War II Tuskegee Airman, was the ground commander. He earned a Silver Star.

During the Korean War, two Black soldiers were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor: Private First Class William Thompson, mortally wounded by a grenade; and Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton, who died of wounds received during his heroic exploits.

Both men were in the 24th Infantry.

Alan Keyes, Political Activist born

*Alan Keyes was born on this date in 1950. He is an African American politician and diplomat from the state of Maryland.

The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) is Formed

*On this date in 1950, the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was formed. This unit was a Ranger light infantry company of the United States Army active during the Korean War. As a small special operations unit, it specialized in irregular warfare. It was a segregated unit; all its personnel, including its officers, were black.   The U.S. Army, which […]

Elijah Cummings, Baltimore Politician born

*Elijah Cummings was born on this date in 1951. He was a Black politician. Elijah Eugene Cummings was from Baltimore and was the son of Ruth Elma (née Cochran) and Robert Cummings. His parents were sharecroppers; he was the third of seven children. Cummings graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College High School in 1969. He later attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where […]

Sharon Sayles Belton, Administrator born

Sharon Sayles-Belton was born on this date in 1951. She is an African American administrator, activist, and politician.

She was born in Minneapolis, one of four girls from the family of Bill and Ethel Sayles. She graduated from Central High School and from Macalester College in St. Paul in 1973. She then worked as a civil rights activist in Jackson, MS, returned to Minnesota, began working as a parole officer, and later served as the assistant director of the Minnesota Program for Victims of Sexual Assault. She also co-founded the Harriet Tubman Shelter for Battered Women.

The First Black Medal of Honor is Conferred For The Korean Conflict

On this date in 1951, Private First Class William Henry Thompson became the first Black to earn the Medal of Honor in the Korean conflict.

While manning his machine gun during a surprise attack on his platoon, Thompson of Company M, Twenty-fourth Infantry Regiment, was killed in action. This occurred at a critical juncture in the 8th Army’s attempt to stop the North Korean Army’s southward movement.

Pfc. Thompson’s effort near Hainan, Korea, resulted in his becoming the first Black man to receive the Medal of Honor since 1898.