Black History Knowledge — October 27

What happened on this day. These are the October 27 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1891 — Philip B. Downing received patents for a street letter box

U.S. Patent No. 462,092, for a street letter box designed so that mail could be collected more rapidly and easily, was issued to Philip B. Downing of Boston on October 27, 1891. A companion patent, No. 462,093, covering an improved lid for letter boxes, was issued the same day. Downing, a Black inventor born in Providence, Rhode Island, and the son of abolitionist George T. Downing, patented a street letter box resembling the mailboxes now in common use.

1960 — Martin Luther King Jr. was released from Reidsville State Prison

King was released from Georgia State Prison at Reidsville on October 27, 1960, on a $2,000 appeal bond after eight days in custody; he had been sentenced for a probation violation after taking part in an Atlanta sit-in. The day before, John F. Kennedy telephoned Coretta Scott King, and Robert F. Kennedy called Georgia officials, including Judge J. Oscar Mitchell. King said Kennedy had been “a great force” in his release, and Martin Luther King Sr. publicly switched his support from Richard Nixon to Kennedy during the close 1960 presidential race.

1981 — Andrew Young won the Atlanta mayoral runoff

On October 27, 1981, former U.N. ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young defeated state Representative Sidney Marcus in a runoff for mayor of Atlanta, winning about 55 percent of the vote (65,798 to 53,549). The runoff followed a seven-candidate first round on October 6. Young succeeded Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first Black mayor. Young’s election continued Black leadership of Atlanta’s city government; voting largely followed racial lines, according to contemporary reports.

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