Black History Knowledge — November 2

What happened on this day. These are the November 2 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1903 — Maggie Lena Walker opens the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank [Q]

Maggie Lena Walker opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia, on November 2, 1903, and served as its first president. The National Park Service recognizes her as the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States. On the first day, 280 people and organizations deposited more than $8,000, and the bank later survived the Great Depression through a merger with two other Black-owned banks.

1920 — White mobs destroy the Black community of Ocoee, Florida, on Election Day

On Election Day, November 2, 1920, white mobs in Ocoee, Florida, attacked Black residents who had tried to vote. As many as 30 Black people were killed, and Black homes, two churches and a lodge were burned. The surviving Black residents were driven out, and no Black people lived in Ocoee for the next 60 years.

1954 — Charles C. Diggs Jr. is elected Michigan’s first Black member of Congress

Charles C. Diggs Jr., a Detroit funeral director and state senator, was elected to the U.S. House on November 2, 1954, the first African American to represent Michigan in Congress. He became the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a leading voice on U.S. policy toward Africa. Diggs was convicted of mail fraud and making false statements in 1978 and resigned in 1980.

1979 — Assata Shakur escapes from a New Jersey prison [Q]

On November 2, 1979, Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member, escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey with the help of armed visitors. She had been convicted in 1977 of murder in the 1973 killing of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster. She later surfaced in Cuba, which granted her asylum, and she was never returned to the United States.

1983 — President Reagan signs the bill creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day

On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the law making the third Monday of January a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., with Coretta Scott King beside him. The bill was sponsored by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana and passed the House 338 to 90. The holiday was first observed in January 1986.

Wear the history: Martin Luther King Jr. — from the Black Knowledge Wear collection.