Black History Knowledge
Black History Knowledge — August 7
Aug
What happened on this day. These are the August 7 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.
1930 — White mob lynches Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Indiana
On August 7, 1930, a white mob broke into the jail in Marion, Indiana, and lynched Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith before either man could stand trial. Sixteen-year-old James Cameron narrowly escaped the same fate, and the widely circulated photograph of the lynching later helped inspire the anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit.”
1948 — Alice Coachman becomes first Black woman to win Olympic gold
On August 7, 1948, Alice Coachman won the women’s high jump at the London Olympics with an Olympic-record leap. She became the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal and the only American woman to win a track-and-field gold at those Games.
1970 — Marin County courthouse takeover leads to Angela Davis prosecution
On August 7, 1970, seventeen-year-old Jonathan Jackson led an armed takeover of a Marin County courtroom in an attempt to free the imprisoned Soledad Brothers. Four people were killed, and weapons registered to Angela Davis led to a national manhunt and prosecution; Davis was acquitted of all charges in 1972.
