Events and People in Black History

There are a number of different people and events important to African American history.. Some of those major people and events are listed in the following timeline.

1619 - American settlers bring slaves to Virginia.

1746 - Lucy Terry becomes the first African American poet.

1773 - The first book by an African American is published.

1808 - Congress passes a law prohibiting the importation of African slaves.

1820 - Slavery is banned north of Missouri in the Missouri Compromise.

1846 - Frederick Douglass starts an abolitionist paper.

1849 - Harriet Tubman runs away, almost immediately begins helping others on the Underground Railroad.

1852 - Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published.

1857 - Dred Scott case declares that slaves aren’t American citizens and that Congress can’t prohibit slavery.

1861 - The Civil War starts.

1863 - President Abraham Lincoln bans slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.

1865 - End of the Civil War.

1865 - Ku Klux Klan begins.

1865 - Slavery prohibited with the Thirteenth Amendment in the Constitution.

1869 - Howard University is the first law school for blacks.

1870 - Hiram Revels of Mississippi becomes the first black senator.

1879 - A large number of blacks move to Kansas in what’s known as the Black Exodus.

1881 - Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard found Speman College for black females.

1881 - The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama founded by Booker T. Washington opens for black students.

1896 - Supreme Court determines that racial segregation is allowed in Plessy v. Ferguson.

1909 - W.E.B. Dubois forms the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NCAA).

1914 - The Universal Negro Improvement Association begins, founded by Marcus Garvey.

1920s - The Harlem Renaissance takes place as black artists and writers create numerous works.

1938 - Hattie McDaniel becomes the first black actor to ever win an Academy Award; she wins Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind.

1947 - Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American player in the MLB when he signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1948 - Segregation in the military is banned during World War II.

1952 - Malcolm X begins working as a minister with the Nation of Islam and joins the Black Muslims, known for his beliefs that blacks themselves had to find solutions for their shared problems.

1954 - Racial segregation deemed unconstitutional by Brown v. Board of Education.

1955 - Rosa Parks launches a boycott when she refuses to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, which was expected at the time.

1957 - Arkansas Governor calls in the National Guard to block nine black students from attending the segregated Central High.

1960 - Four black students start a sit-in at a North Carolina lunch counter when they aren’t allowed service.

1960 - Wilma Rudolph becomes the first African American woman to win gold at the Olympics.

1961 - Student volunteers check the segregation of the South, known as the freedom riders.

1963 - Martin Luther King Jr. writes Letter from Birmingham Jail after being arrested and also gives the I Have a Dream speech.

1963 - Sidney Portier is the first black male actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.

1964 - The Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination is signed into law by President Johnson.

1965 - Malcolm X assassinated.

1965 - Bloody Sunday takes place when fifty protesters including Martin Luther King Jr. are attacked by police in Selma, Alabama.

1966 - The Black Panthers start.

1966 - Jesse Jackson heads Operation Breadbasket and forms an economic boycott in Chicago.

1967 - Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black Justice on the Supreme Court.

1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated.

1968 - The Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in regards to the renting and selling of property.

1978 - Supreme Court upholds affirmative action.

1980s - Al Sharpton works on bringing more publicity to court cases involving African Americans.

1989 - Spike Lee films She’s Gotta Have It.

1992 - Race riots break out in California after white police officers beat a black man.

2003 - Supreme Court determines that colleges can use affirmative action in their admissions policy.

2008 - Barack Obama is the first African American elected to the office of United States President.

2009 - Eric Holder Jr. becomes the first black Attorney General of the United States.

Resources on Black History include:

• African-American History : covers different topics relating to black history.
• African American Artists : gives details on different artists throughout history.
• Notable African Americans : offers biographies on important figures.
• Famous Black Inventors : covers inventors of African American descent.
• Black History Facts : provides a different historical fact for every day of the year.
• Black History for Kids : focuses on cultural history and meant for children.
• Black History Hotlist : discusses the most important topics in black history.
• Encyclopedia Britannica : offers a guide to black history including images and a timeline.
• The National Archives : provides resources on different topics in black history.
• History Channel : discusses major events in the history of blacks such as the Underground Railroad.
• Black History : offers biographies of important black people throughout history.
• Malcolm X : gives a biography and chronology of his life.
• Martin Luther King Jr. : provides a biography of the influential leader.
• African-American History Timeline : lists major events in black history.
• African American History : discusses events and people important in the history of African Americans.

Discovering more about black history is easier than doing background checks. The timeline here shows some of the major events and the resources help those interested learn more.