November 3, 1639 Saint Martin de Porres, Dominican lay brother, died. De Porres was born December 9, 1579 in Lima, Peru. At the age of 15, he was admitted into the Dominican Convent of the Rosary as a servant boy. His piety and miraculous cures led his superiors to drop the racial limits on admission […]
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November 3rd in African American History – The Commonwealth of Dominica
November 3, 1978 The Commonwealth of Dominica gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Dominica is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea located between the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. It is approximately 290 square miles in size with a population of 73,000. Approximately 87% of the population is black and 80% are Roman […]
November 2nd in African American History – Toni Stone
November 2, 1996 Toni Stone, the first woman to play Negro League baseball, died. Stone was born Marcenia Lyle on July 17, 1921 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She began playing baseball at the age of ten and by the age of 15 was playing for a men’s semi-professional team. During World War II, she moved […]
November 2nd in African American History – Oliver Wendell “Ollie” Harrington
November 2, 1995 Oliver Wendell “Ollie” Harrington, cartoonist, died. Harrington was born February 14, 1912 in Valhalla, New York. He started drawing cartoons at a young age and went to work for the Amsterdam News as a cartoonist and political satirist. In 1935, Harrington created “Dark Laughter” a single panel cartoon which appeared in the […]
November 1st in African American History – Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
November 1, 1989 Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States, died. Alexander was born January 2, 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1918, her Master of Science degree in economics in 1919, and her Ph.D. in economics […]
November 1st in African American History – James Milton Turner
November 1, 1915 James Milton Turner, politician and consul to Liberia, died. Turner was born enslaved on May 16, 1840 in St. Louis, Missouri. Turner and his parents were freed when he was young but he still had limited educational opportunities because Missouri State laws restricted Blacks from learning to read. Despite the legal obstacles, […]
November 25th in African American History – Harold Lee Washington
November 25, 1987 Harold Lee Washington, the first and only African American Mayor of Chicago, died. Washington was born April 15, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Bronzeville, the epicenter of Black culture in Chicago. After service in the military, Washington earned a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt College in 1949 and a law […]