Black History Knowledge — September 25

What happened on this day. These are the September 25 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1861 — The Union Navy opens enlistment to Black sailors

On September 25, 1861, Navy Secretary Gideon Welles authorized the enlistment of formerly enslaved men, making the Navy the first branch to officially accept Black recruits during the Civil War. Black sailors ultimately made up a substantial share of Union crews and fought in every major naval engagement.

1957 — The Little Rock Nine attend a full day under Army protection

On September 25, 1957, soldiers of the 101st Airborne escorted the Little Rock Nine into Central High School, where they completed their first full day of classes. Federal bayonets enforced what the Constitution promised, though the students still faced a year of daily abuse inside the school’s halls.

1961 — Voting rights farmer Herbert Lee is murdered in Mississippi

On September 25, 1961, Mississippi state legislator E. H. Hurst shot and killed Herbert Lee, a Black farmer who had been driving SNCC organizer Bob Moses around Amite County to register voters. Hurst was cleared the same day by a coroner’s jury, and witness Louis Allen was himself murdered in 1964 for wanting to tell the truth.

1962 — Sonny Liston takes the heavyweight championship

On September 25, 1962, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round in Chicago to win the heavyweight title. The bout between two Black champions carried heavy symbolic freight in the civil rights era, with the press casting the menacing Liston against the respectable Patterson in a drama about Black public image.