February 20, 1913 Thomas Kilgore, one of the few men to lead two major national Baptist organizations, was born in Woodruff, South Carolina. Kilgore earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in 1935 and earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1957.
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National Negro Congress – February 14th in African American History
February 14, 1936 The inaugural meeting of the National Negro Congress was convened at the Eighth Regiment Armory in Chicago, Illinois. The purpose was to build a national constituency to pressure government for labor and civil rights.
Percy Ellis Sutton – December 26th in African American History
December 26, 2009 Percy Ellis Sutton, lawyer, civil rights activist and political and business leader, died. Sutton was born November 24, 1920 in San Antonio, Texas. During World War II, Sutton served as an intelligence officer with the Tuskegee Airmen. He attended Prairie View University, Tuskegee Institute, and Hampton Institute before earning his law degree […]
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John Edward Jacob – December 16th in African American History
December 16, 1934 John Edward Jacob, civil rights leader, was born in Trout, Louisiana. Jacob earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1957 and Master of Social Work degree in 1963 from Howard University. He was a social worker in Baltimore, Maryland from 1960 to 1965. In 1965, he joined the Washington, D.C. […]
Nat Turner – August 21st in African American History
On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner, an African American slave preacher, led a violent rebellion against the ruling class in Southampton County, Virginia. The Nat Turner Rebellion resulted in the deaths of over 55 whites and 255 slaves. Turner’s band of rebels numbered 70, so most of the slaves killed had nothing to do with […]
Congress on Racial Equality – August 3rd in African American History
On August 3, 1942, an interracial group of University of Chicago students founded the Congress on Racial Equality, known widely as CORE. These students, Bernice Fisher, James R. Robinson, James Farmer, Joe Guinn, George Houser, and Homer Jack had affiliated previously with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a group known for its pacifist, non-violent philosophy. CORE […]
Juneteenth Celebrations – June 19th in African American History
June 19, 1865, or Juneteenth, was the day the African American slaves in Texas received notice by Union Major-General Gordon Granger that they were forever free. President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated earlier in April of that year, had signed the Emancipation Proclamation that went into effect on January 1, 1863, freeing all the slaves in the […]