People, Locations, Episodes

American Professional Golf Integrates

*On this date in 1961, the Professional Golfers Tour (PGA) Tour lifted its whites-only clause.

However, the first Black golfer to play a PGA Tour event was Bill Spiller at the 1948 Los Angeles Open. The first black golfer to win a PGA Tour event Pete Brown won the Waco Open in 1964. Charlie Sifford was the first full-time black PGA Tour member after the whites-only clause was lifted. He became the first Black tour member to win at the Greater Hartford Open in 1967 and captured a second victory at the Los Angeles Open in 1969.

Tanzania Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1961, Tanzania gained independence from Britain.   In 1954, Julius Nyerere, a schoolteacher who was then one of only two Tanganyikans educated to the university level, organized a political party—the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). Through that party, Tanganyika became independent, retaining the British monarch as Queen of Tanganyika, and Nyerere became Prime Minister under a new constitution. The […]

‘Black Nativity’ Debuts on Broadway

On this date in 1961, “Black Nativity” opened on Broadway. Langston Hughes’ self-described “gospel song play” was staged at New York City’s Lincoln Theater.

The Christmas story performed in dialog, narrative, pantomime, gospel song, and folk spirituals is an expression of Hughes’ late-in-life interest in African American spirituality and the oral traditions of the African American church.

The Robert Taylor Homes Open

*The Robert Taylor Homes housing project began accepting residences on this date in 1962.

The First Black Coaches a Major League Baseball Team

*On this date in 1962 the first Black American coached in major league baseball. John “Buck” O’Neil started managing the Chicago Cubs on this date.

He stayed with the Cubs until 1988, signing Hall of Fame players Ernie Banks and Lou Brock to their first contracts.

Burundi Gains Independence From Belgium

*This date in 1962 celebrates Burundi’s independence from Belgium.  Burundi is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. It borders Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The capital cities are Gitega and Bujumbura.   Burundi began its drive for independence on January 20, […]

The Commonwealth Immigration Act is Enacted

*On this date in 1962, The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 went into effect.  This was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a pushback against the Windrush generation and non-white colonial citizens of Britain. Before the Act was passed, citizens of Commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK. […]

The Council of Federated Organizations is Formed

*The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) was formed on this date in 1962.  They were a coalition of the major Civil Rights Movement organizations operating in Mississippi.  The COFO was the effort of local activists and indigenous leadership.  The prelude to the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi began after World War II when veterans such as Medgar Evers, his brother Charles Evers, Aaron Henry, and Amzie Moore returned home […]

Jamaica Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1962, Jamaica celebrates its independence from British colonial rule.  The Caribbean island was settled first by hunter-gatherers from the Yucatan and then by two waves of Arawak people from South America. Christopher Columbus arrived in Jamaica in 1494 and took it for the Crown of Castile. At this time, over two […]

Trinidad and Tobago Gain Independence from the UK

*Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom on this date in 1962.   Trinidad, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago and numerous much smaller islands. It shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela […]

Voter Registration Workers Wounded in Mississippi

On this date in 1962, two young voter registration workers were shot during a registration drive in the South. The two were wounded by shotgun blasts fired through the window of a home in Ruleville, MS.

At the time, there was good reason for seeing politics in the deep South as white folks’ business. The percentage of blacks registered to vote in most of the Deep South was typically 8 percent, 3 percent, 0.5 percent. The percentage of whites registered to vote, 110 percent, 111 percent, and 145 percent.

These figures still didn’t speak to such a level of repression.

Meredith v. Fair is Ruled

*On this date in 1962. Meredith v. Fair was ruled.  This was a desegregation suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on May 31, 1961. This involved the desegregation of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Plaintiff, transfer student, and activist James Meredith claimed he had been denied admission to Ole […]

Hatti McDaniels and Louise Beavers Die On The Same Day

This date in 1962, marks the twin deaths of two award winning African American actress’. Hatti McDaniel, 67, Gone With The Wind and Louise Beavers, 62 Beulah Beulah died.

Simkins v. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital is Decided

*On this date in 1963, Simkins v. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital was decided.  This federal case reached the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that “separate but equal” racial segregation in publicly funded hospitals violated equal protection under the United States Constitution.  George Simkins, Jr. was a dentist and NAACP leader in Greensboro, North Carolina. One of his African American patients developed an abscessed tooth, and […]

The N.A.A.C.P. v. Button Case is Decided

*On this date in 1963, the NAACP v. Button case was decided.   This was a 6-to-3 ruling by the United States Supreme Court, which held that the reservation of jurisdiction by a federal district court did not bar the U.S. Supreme Court from reviewing a state court’s ruling. It also overturned specific laws enacted by the […]