BLACK HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN DECEMBER!
DECEMBER 1, 1955:
Rosa Parks was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law when she refused to her bus seat to a white passenger. Parks was arrested approximately nine months after Claudette Colvin for the same reason.
DECEMBER 2, 1978:
Marian Anderson was among the first recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors Awards.
​
DECEMBER 3, 1847:
The North Star, an antislavery newspaper by Frederick Douglass, was first published.
​
DECEMBER 4, 1906:
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity became the first Black Greek fraternity at Cornell University. Since that date, four other Black Greek fraternities were founded. Kappa Alpha Psi was founded on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University. Omega Psi Phi was foounded Novembver 17, 1911 at Howard University. Phi Beta Sigma was founded on January 9, 1914 at Howard University. Iota Phi Theta was founded on September 19, 1963.
​
​
DECEMBER 5, 1955:
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began and is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation.
​
​
DECEMBER 6, 1997:
Lee Patrick Brown was elected the first African-American mayor of Houston, Texas.
​
DECEMBER 7, 1874:
The "Vicksburg Massacre" occurred in Mississippi when White Democrats attacked Black citizens who had organized to defend Peter Crosby.
​
DECEMBER 8, 1936:
The NAACP wins Gibbs v. Board of Education, against the state of Maryland, ensuring that white and Black teachers are paid equally.
​
DECEMBER 9, 1998:
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was awarded his fourth start, making him the first African-American officer to receive this honor in retirement.
​
​
DECEMBER 10, 1950:
Ralph Bunche became the first African American to receive the Nobel Peach Prize.
​
DECEMBER 11, 1917:
Thirteen AFrican American soldiers were executed just outside of San Antonio for their alleged participation in the Houston Riot that took place in August.
​
DECEMBER 12, 1938:
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Missouri that a state must provide equal educational facilities for Blacks within its boundaries.
​
DECEMBER 13, 2014:
Thousands of people marched in New York City and Washington, D.C. to demand an end to police violence against unarmed Blacks.
​
​
DECEMBER 14, 1959:
Motwon Record Company, the first large Black-owned music company in America, was founded by Berry Gordan.
​
​
DECEMBER 15, 2006:
B.B. King, an iconic Blues musician, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Presdient George W. Bush.
​
​
OCTOBER 16, 1968:
U.S. 200-meter sprint medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who won the gold and bronze, respectively, raised their black-gloved fists in a Black power salute during the playing of the national anthem at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. They were suspended for politicizing the Olympics and sent home.
​
DECEMBER 16, 2000:
Colin Powell was elected Secretary of State by President George W. Bush.
DECEMBER 17, 1975:
Henry (Hank) Aaron became the 60th recipient of the Springarn Medal from the NAACP.
​
​
DECEMBER 18, 2017:
Kobe Bryant's No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys were retired by the Los Angeles Lakers. He became the 10th player in team history to have his number retired and the only player with two jerseys retried by the Lakers.
​
DECEMBER 19, 1910:
The city of Baltimore passed an ordinance that made it illegal for any black person to live in a white neighborhood, and vice-versa.
​
​
DECEMBER 20, 1956:
A federal ruling decalred the Alabama laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstituional.
DECEMBER 21, 1976:
Patricia R. Harris was named secretary of housing and urban development by President-elect Carter.
​
​
DECEMBER 22, 1956:
Bill Russell made his basketball debut for the Boston Celtics.
​
DECEMBER 23, 1919:
Alice H. Parker received a patent fo her invention of the gas heating furnace.
​
​
DECEMBER 24, 1992:
The position of Secretary of Agriculture was awarded to
Alphonso Espy on or around this day. He was the first Black to hold this position.
​
DECEMBER 25, 1951:
Harry and Harriet Moore were civil right activists that lived in Florida. Their house was bombed by white supremacists and they both died from the injuries.
​
​
DECEMBER 26, 1944:
Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills became the first female African-American officers in the U.S. Navy.
​
DECEMBER 27, 1892:
The first Black Intercolelgiate football game was played between Biddle College )now Johnson C. Smith University) and Livingstone College.
​
​
DECEMBER 29, 1992:
Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was certiifed Gold, Platinum, and Triple Platinum.
​
DECEMBER 30, 1960:
Federal district Judge Marion S. Boyd issued a temporary restraining in order blocking evictions of 400 African Americans in Fayette and Haywood County, TN. Black sharecroppers were evicted by whites for registering to vote.
​
​
DECEMBER 31, 1862:
African Americans across the United States, free and enslaved, held watch meetings for the Emancipation Proclamation.
​
​