Black History Knowledge — October 9

What happened on this day. These are the October 9 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1893 — A white mob lynched Bob Hudson in Weakley County, Tennessee

On October 9, 1893, a Black man named Bob Hudson was lynched by a white mob in Weakley County, Tennessee, near the town of Dresden. His wife had filed assault charges against a white man, and in retaliation ten masked men severely whipped her. When Hudson intervened to defend his wife, the mob shot and killed him. Hudson was killed for defending his wife after she sought legal protection, showing how lynching was used to punish Black families who turned to the courts.

1917 — The Hartford branch of the NAACP was founded

On October 9, 1917, the Hartford chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded, with Mary Townsend Seymour serving as its spokesperson. Seymour went on to help organize Hartford’s Circle for Negro War Relief in 1918. By 1920 she was investigating wage discrimination against Black women tobacco warehouse workers for the Red Cross, and she published her findings in the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis. The branch gave Black residents of Connecticut’s capital an organized civil rights voice during the Great Migration, and made Seymour one of the state’s leading activists.

1948 — Larry Doby hit the first World Series home run by a Black player

On October 9, 1948, in Game 4 of the World Series at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland Indians outfielder Larry Doby hit a third-inning home run off Boston Braves pitcher Johnny Sain. It was the first home run by a Black player in World Series history, and it helped Cleveland win 2-1 and take a three-games-to-one lead in the Series. A photograph taken after the game of Doby embracing winning pitcher Steve Gromek became one of the best-known images in baseball history. Doby, the first African American to play in the American League, reached baseball’s biggest stage barely a year after integrating the league. SABR writes that the photograph with Gromek came to symbolize an erosion of racial divisions and Doby’s acceptance by his team.

1989 — Art Shell coached his first game as the NFL’s first Black head coach of the modern era

On October 9, 1989, Art Shell coached his first game as head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders, a 14-7 win over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football at Giants Stadium. Raiders owner Al Davis had named Shell, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman, to replace Mike Shanahan on October 3, 1989. Shell was the first African American head coach of the NFL’s modern era; Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard had been the first in the league’s early 1920s. Shell’s debut ended a gap of more than six decades without a Black head coach in the NFL and opened the way for later Black head coaches. The Raiders went 7-5 under Shell for the rest of the 1989 season.

2009 — Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Barack Obama as the 2009 Peace Prize laureate on October 9, 2009, less than nine months into his presidency. Obama became the fourth U.S. president and the first Black U.S. president to receive the prize. The selection also prompted debate over whether the award recognized accomplishment or aspiration.