What happened on this day. These are the August 15 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1914 — Panama Canal opens after work by tens of thousands of Caribbean laborers On Aug 15, 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened to traffic with the passage of the steamship Ancon. More than 50,000 […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 14 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1908 — The Springfield Race Riot begins in Illinois On August 14, 1908, a white mob began attacking Black residents, homes, and businesses in Springfield, Illinois. The three days of violence included two lynchings and […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 13 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1906 — The Brownsville Affair begins in Texas On the night of August 13, 1906, gunfire in Brownsville, Texas, was blamed on Black soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Infantry despite conflicting evidence and their denials. President […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 12 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1922 — Frederick Douglass’s Cedar Hill home is dedicated as a memorial On August 12, 1922, the restored Frederick Douglass Memorial Home at Cedar Hill was formally dedicated in Washington, D.C. Black women’s organizations, including […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 11 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1965 — The Watts Rebellion begins in Los Angeles On August 11, 1965, the arrest of Marquette Frye after a traffic stop sparked six days of unrest in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 10 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1821 — Missouri enters the Union as a slave state On August 10, 1821, Missouri was admitted to the United States as a slave state under the Missouri Compromise. Its admission preserved a political balance […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 9 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1936 — Jesse Owens wins his fourth Olympic gold medal On August 9, 1936, Jesse Owens anchored the United States 4-by-100-meter relay team to a world record and his fourth gold medal at the Berlin […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 8 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1863 — Tennessee’s Eighth of August emancipation tradition takes root According to oral tradition preserved by the National Park Service, Andrew Johnson emancipated the people he enslaved on August 8, 1863. Black communities in Tennessee […]
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 […]
What happened on this day. These are the August 6 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on. 1861 — First Confiscation Act challenges Confederate slaveholding On August 6, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed the First Confiscation Act. The law allowed Union forces to seize property, including enslaved people, being used to support […]