Black History Knowledge — November 6

What happened on this day. These are the November 6 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1888 — Henry P. Cheatham is elected to Congress from North Carolina

On November 6, 1888, Henry Plummer Cheatham, a Shaw University graduate and former principal of a state normal school for Black students, was elected to the U.S. House from North Carolina’s ‘Black Second’ district. He served two terms. Black voters in the district elected George H. White in 1896, the last Black congressman of the post-Reconstruction era.

1928 — Oscar De Priest is elected to Congress from Chicago

On November 6, 1928, Chicago alderman Oscar De Priest won election to the U.S. House, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century and the first Black member elected from outside the South. He was the only Black member of Congress during his three terms. His wife’s attendance at a 1929 White House tea for congressional wives provoked an uproar among Southern politicians.

1962 — Edward Brooke wins Massachusetts attorney general; Augustus Hawkins goes to Congress

On November 6, 1962, Edward Brooke was elected attorney general of Massachusetts, the first African American elected attorney general of any state. The same day Augustus Hawkins, a 28-year veteran of the California Assembly, became the first Black member of Congress from California. Brooke moved up to the U.S. Senate in 1966; Hawkins later co-wrote the Humphrey-Hawkins full employment act.

1973 — Coleman Young is elected Detroit’s first Black mayor

On November 6, 1973, state senator Coleman Young defeated former police commissioner John Nichols to become Detroit’s first Black mayor. A former Tuskegee Airman and labor organizer, Young was re-elected four times, more than any other Detroit mayor. He reformed the city’s police department and backed major downtown construction projects.

1990 — Sharon Pratt Dixon is elected mayor of Washington; Gary Franks wins in Connecticut

On November 6, 1990, Sharon Pratt Dixon was elected mayor of the District of Columbia, the first Black woman to lead a major American city. The same day Gary Franks of Waterbury, Connecticut, won a U.S. House seat, Connecticut’s first Black member of Congress and the first Black Republican in the House since 1935. Both took office in January 1991.