BLACK HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN AUGUST!
AUGUST 1, 1925:
The National Bar Association was incorporated in Des Moines. The National Bar Association was founded after some of the The National Bar Association founders were denied membership in the American Bar Association.
AUGUST 2, 2012:
Gabrielle Douglas became the first African-American athlete to win the Olympic gold medal in the artistic Gymnastics Women's Individual All-Around at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
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AUGUST 3, 1897:
Lloyd Ray made improvement to the dustpan. He patented a device with a metal collection plate attached to a short wooden handle in which trash could be swept without getting the hands dirty.
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AUGUST 4, 1996:
Josia Thugwane won gold medal in the Olympics after finishing first in the marathon. He became the first black South African to win a gold medal.
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AUGUST 5, 1953:
Donald and Betty Howard (and their children) began being harassed by white neighbors who found out that Blacks were living in Trumbull Park Federal Housing Projects in Chicago.
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AUGUST 6, 1965:
African Americans won the guaranteed right to vote when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
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AUGUST 7, 1948:
Alice Coachman was the first Black woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal when she won the International competition in the high jump in the Olympic Games in London in 1948.
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AUGUST 8, 1863:
Blacks in Clarksville, TN celebrated no longer being enslaved.
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AUGUST 9, 1961:
James B. Parsons became one of the first Blacks appointed to Federal District Court in continental United States.
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AUGUST 10, 1835:
Noyes Academy, an integrated school in Canaan, New Hampshire, was destroyed by a mob of whites. They used oxen to pull the school off its foundation and drag it a mile down the road.
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AUGUST 11, 1955:
Zora Neale Hurston wrote a letter to the Orlando Sentinel. In this letter she expressed her opposing views of school integration.
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AUGUST 12, 1922:
Frederick Douglass' home in Washington, D.C. became a dedicated national museum.
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AUGUST 13, 1892:
John Henry Murphy Sr. started the AFro-American newspaper.
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AUGUST 14, 1876:
Prairie View A&M University was founded as the "Alta Vista Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth".
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AUGUST 15, 1843:
The National Convention of Colored Citizens, one of the most significant convention in abolition movements, began. The Convention lasted for four days.
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AUGUST 16, 1963:
The Emancipation Proclamation stamp was issued. It was designed by George Olden and he was the first Black to design a U.S. postage stamp.
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AUGUST 17, 2020:
Chiney Joy Ogwumike became the first Black woman to co-host her own daily, national radio show on ESPN.
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AUGUST 18, 1963:
James Meredith became the first African-American student to graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
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AUGUST 19, 1958:
Children from the NAACP Youth Council took part in sit-ins to desegregate the Katz Drug Store lunch counter in downtown Oklahoma City. It was led by Clara Luper, a high school teacher.
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AUGUST 20, 1939:
The National Negro Bowling Association (NNBA) was formed in Detroit, Michigan. It is now known as The National Bowling Association.
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AUGUST 21, 1831:
Nat Turner's rebellion was a revolt that occurred that was led by Nathanial "Nat" Turner, an enslaved black man.
AUGUST 22, 1950:
Althea Gibson was accepted into the United States Lawn Tennis Association's Annual Champsionship. This made here the first African American player to compete in a U.S. national tennis competirion.
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AUGUST 23, 1900:
Booker T. Washington formed the National Negro Business League (NNBL) in Boston, Massachusetts.
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AUGUST 24, 1950:
Edith Sampson was appointed as the first African American alternate delegate to the United Nations.
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AUGUST 25, 1997:
The Arthur AShe stadium offically opened by the US Open in Queens, New York City.
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AUGUST 26, 1968:
Julian Bond received an invalid vice-presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention that was held on August 26-29. He was 28, but the age requirement was thirty-five.
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AUGUST 27, 2005:
The United States Postal Service issued the Arthur Ashe stamp.
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AUGUST 28, 1963:
More than 200,000 demonstrators took part in the March on Washington. It was this event that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
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AUGUST 29, 2005:
Hurricane Katrina made landfall off the coast of Louisiana. This Hurricane casued significant loss of life and destruction in New Orleans and surrounding areas.
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AUGUST 30, 1991:
Mike Powell broke the world long jump world record when he jumped 8.95 meters in Tokyo.
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AUGUST 31, 1962:
Fannie Lou Hamer led 17 volunteers to register to vote at the Indianola, Mississippi Courthouse. The women were denied the right to vote due to an unfair literacy test.
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