Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the 66th Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Dr. Condoleezza Rice also became the first African American female Secretary of State.

 

James Armistead, an African American slave, assisted the French General Lafayette in the Revolutionary War by monitoring the British fleet at Norfolk, Virginia. Lafayette arranged for Armistead’s freedom for what he did.

In the Declaration of Independence, slavery or the concern for slavery is not mention at all. The Founding Fathers felt that the slave trade of the time was beyond their control.

In the American Revolution, it was African Americans who fought on both sides of the war. They participated in both the colonist and British ranks, seeking freedom.

Lemuel Haynes, Primas Black, Epheram Blackmen and Pump Blackman were all Minutemen and they all fought in major battles in the American Revolution as minutemen. Haynes eventually became a pastor in a white church.

George Washington, the first President of the United States, met with Phillis Wheatly, an African American female, to thank her for a poem she had written as a tribute to him. Phillis Wheatly, who wrote mainly on religious themes, was the first published Black author in North America.

The Civil War was not fought to free slaves, it was to preserve the union. President Abraham Lincoln’s administration did not want the slave issue to be part of the war.

President Abraham Lincoln, was the first president to meet with some members of the African American community who wanted a separate colony outside of the United States. President Lincoln supported their argument for a separate colony outside of the United States.

Frederick Douglas, an African American abolitionist, believed that political action was the means to end slavery. William Lloyd Garrison, a White abolitionist, believed moral persuasion was the only way to end slavery.

Philadelphia, during the abolitionist movement, was known as "The Black Capital of Anti-Slavery," which was the center of the drive to abolish slavery.

Southern legislatures, passed a "Black Code," to govern the conduct of slaves and to restrict the rights of blacks.

Jumping over the broom, was a popular African American wedding tradition that slaves used as a means for marriage.

President Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech, the Emancipation Proclamation, was to free the slaves of the Confederate States in rebellion against the union. To weaken the confederates ability to continue to wage war.

The first interracial jury in the United State indicted Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America, for treason.

Elizabeth Keckly, an African American female, served as a companion to the first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln.

Jacob Lawrence, an African American male, depicted the lives of Frederick Douglas in painting. Each portrait consists of forty panels in tempera.

Jacob Lawrence's, an African American male, painting of "Migration of the Negro" depicts the movement of African Americans from the South to the North. The Sixty panels of this monumental work show the mass emigration of Blacks from rural Southern towns to industrial Northern cities.

Queen Victoria bought one of Robert Scott Dundanson's, an African American male painter, landscapes for Balmoral Castle. His best known works include "Blue Hole and Little Miani River".

In Washington, D.C. you can visit the Anacostia Museum’s collection devoted to African American history and culture. The Smithsonian Institution Museum also offers educational programs on African Americans

Students of Howard University was the first educational institution to demand Black studies programs. Students took over the and locked themselves in the administration building until an a greement was reached.

"Lift Every Voice and Sing," a poem by James Weldon Johnson set to music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson is considered the "National Black Anthem".

Wally Amos, creator of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, managed the Temptations and the Supremes before founding his company on a recipe from his aunt. He gave out his cookies at concerts before going into his cookie business.

Artist Charles Lilly depicted the "Steel Drivin’ Man", celebrated as "John Henry", in which the hero tests his human strength against a mechanical hammer.

The huge murals "Amisted" painted By Hale Woodruff can be seen at Talladego College in Alabama.

Blanche K. Bruce, an African American male, served as the Second Senator from Mississippi, succeeding Hiram R. Revels, an African American who was the first Black Senator for Mississippi, Senator Bruce served one full term.

During the Reconstruction Period Black legislators held eighty seven of the one hundred seven seats in the lower house in South Carolina. Also, in South Carolina Jonathan J. Wright, an African American male, sat on the State Supreme Court and Francis L Cardozo, an African American male, filled the post of Secretary of State and later became the Treasurer.

Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina each elected African American men as Lieutenant Governors. In Mississippi John Roy Lynch, an African American male, served as Speaker of the House and in 1873 went to the United States Congress as one of the state’s representatives.

Eight southern states sent a total of twenty-two black congressmen and senators to Washington, D.C. Mississippi sent Blanche K. Bruce, an African American male and friend of Booker T. Washington, to Washington D.C. in 1874. The only other Black American to serve in the Senate until Massachusetts elected Edward Brooke in 1966. The first Black Senator since Blanche K. Bruce, of the reconstruction era of 1901.

Of the African Americans in the House of Representatives, South Carolina’s Joseph H. Rainey and Robert Smalls served the longest, with five terms each. While John Roy Lynch from Mississippi and Florida’s J.T. Wells each had three terms.

Blacks seated in administration plagued by scandal and corruption, most African American elected officials proved to be admirable leaders who took their responsibilities seriously. While white southerners found a number of ways to sabotage black efforts to get ahead. Black elected officials and the black community as a whole, did not seek vengeance for their 250 years of oppression. While most southern white elected officials and white civilians remained opposed to equality for blacks.

Dr. Charles B. Purvis attended to the United States President James Garfield, who died from a bullet wound inflicted by assassin Charles Guiteau.

Deborah Newton Chocolate, an African American female author retells an "Ashanti" legend in her book "Talk, Talk," giving advice to children who wanted to be writers, to keep on reading.

George Washington Carver, a botanist, found 300 products that could be made from the peanut, including printer’s ink and a milk substitute.

Katherine Dunham is an African American female from a world famous dance company. Her interest in choreography was inspired by the native dances of tropical America and Africa.

Frederick M. Jones, an African American male, inventor of refrigeration that allowed long distance transports of foods to be possible. He was granted more than forty patents for his refrigeration equipment.

Spirituals are the slave songs that combined African rhythms with biblical scripture and were used to send messages among themselves. Some examples would be "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Go Down Moses", "Deep River" and "Wade In The Water."

In the North, "The Fugitive Slave Act" evoked support for slaves escaping their southern owners. The unfairness of the "Act" led many Northerners (white and black) to assist runaways using the Underground Railroad.

The states of Maine and New Hampshire, granted citizenship to Blacks, because they opposed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

In New York State, before the civil war, a free black man could vote if he owned $200 worth of property. The only requirement for all other males was to be over 21.

A tree named "The Emancipation Oak" grows on the campus of Hampton Institute in Virginia. The tree was named in remembrance of the coming of freedom.

The spiritual "Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen" was popularized by Harry T. Burleigh, an African American singer. He won the NAACP Spingarn Medal for preserving early African American music.

Cicely Tyson, an African American female, played Rebecca in the movie "Sounder" and the lead character in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman". She was honored by the NAACP with Seven Image Awards for her contributions to the visual arts.

The Twenty Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution outlawed the poll tax. This was used especially in the South to keep blacks from voting.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, includes the crucial phrase "Due Process of Law," which means no one can be deprived of life, liberty or property without proper legal procedures.

The term "disfranchised" means "deprived of one’s rights," in particular, the right to vote.

The Bill of Rights begins with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The First Amendment guarantees the right of free expression and action.

In the antebellum South, free blacks did not enjoy the right of trial by jury, nor could they testify against whites in court.

Sharecroppers was the name given to farmers who paid back a share of what they raised in return for renting the land. After emancipation, many African Americans in this situation found themselves in debt to the white owners of the land.

The all-black town of Nicodemus was settled in Kansas. The town was settled by former slaves during the reconstruction period. There were also the towns of Boley, Oklahoma; Dearfield, Colorado and Allensworth, California.

The vast majority of the cowboys in the west were African Americans. As pioneers, they played a major role in settling the west.

There were also black lawmen like Bass Reeves, a Deputy United States Marshall, in the Indian Territory. He killed fourteen men during his career. Reeves died in 1910 at the age of 71. Grant Johnson, a former slave of the Creek Native American, and a Deputy Marshall in the Indian Territory, was appointed by the White hanging judge, Isaac Parker. Johnson was loath to use his weapon, he always tired to trick his man into being captured. He had been on the job 14 years before he killed his first man. Robert L. Fortune, a Deputy United States Marshall, patrolled the area around Wilberton, Ohio. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1916 where he practiced law for 20 years and made au unsuccessful bid for the State legislature. Francis T. Bruce, a Denver policeman and civic leader, went by the affectionate name of "Daddy". He helped organize Denver’s Black Masonic Lodge and was appointed a bailiff for the Municipal Court. Ben Boyer was the deputy Sheriff of Coaldale, Colorado from 1905 to 1910. A deadly shot, he carried a custom made colt .45 and could manage the roughest outlaw. Boyer also served as a prison guard.

James P. Beckworth, an African American male, son of black slaves who lived among the Crow and became a Chief, discovered the Beckworth Pass. It was a route into California through the Sierra Nevada mountains.

George Monroe and William Robinson were the first black Pony Express riders. Monroe Meadows in Yosemite National Park is named for George Monroe.

John H. Johnson, an African American male, founded his own publishing company. He published the magazines Ebony, Jet, Negro Digest and Black Stars. Negro Digest was renamed Black World.

There were 17 African American newspapers before the civil war. These newspapers where in the North and devoted mainly to the fight for equality for blacks.

Father Divine Peace Mission was founded by George Baker, an African American male. During the depression his movement furnished food and other aid to thousands of blacks

The "Ebos" were the subject of the book "Ebony Sea" by Irene Smalls, an African American female. The Ebos refused to become African American slaves.

Pedro Alonzo Nino, was the Black navigator on the Santa Maria on Columbus' first voyage to the new world. Crew members of African descent sailed on all major Spanish expeditions to the Americas.

Dr. Louis T. Wright, an African American male, is famous for his research in cancer. Dr. Wright founded the Cancer Research Center of Harlem Hospital in New York City.

Countee Cullen, an African America male poet, was one of the best known contributors to the Harlem Renaissance. Among his collections of poetry was "CopperSun" and "On Thee I Stand".

Aaron Douglas, an African American male painter, was known for his elongated figures that looked like primitive African sculptures. He also illustrated books for Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson

Henry Ossawa Tanner, an African American male, became the "Dean of American painters" in the turn of the century Paris, France. His painting entitled "Raising of Lazarus" was purchased for the Luxembourg Palace.

In the Rotunda of the Capital Building in Washington, D.C. you can see John Wilson’s, an African America male, bronze bust of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The play "A Raisin In The Sun" was taken from a poem by Langston Hughes, "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"

Born Eleanor Eagan, (AKA Billie Holiday) this popular vocalist was given the nickname "Lady Day" by Lester Young, a noted black sax player in the Count Basie band. She wrote her autobiography entitled "Lady Sings The Blues".

Jackie Torrance, an African American female, is one of America’s foremost entertainers as a storyteller. Her repertoire includes ghost stories and African American tales.

"Goober" and "Gumbo" are two words left over from the language of African slaves. Peanuts were "Goobers" and Okra was "Gumbo". Many words of African origin have entered the English language.

Chemist Moddie Taylor, an African American male, was a member of the secret "Manhattan Project" to develop the atomic bomb. He received a Certificate of Merit for his work on the project.

President John F. Kennedy, of the United States of America, created the award "The Medal of Freedom." Ralph Bunche and Marion Anderson, both African Americans, were the first recipients of this award.

President William Jefferson Clinton, of the United States of America, appointed five African Americans to key Cabinet positions. Jesse Brown, Ronald Brown, Joycelyn Elders, Mike Espy and Hazel O’Leary.

Sergeant William Carney, a member of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, was the first Black male in the civil war to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor. Sergeant Carney won the Medal of Honor at the battle of Fort Wagner where the 54th Massachusetts (the first union regiment of Northern free black men) prove their courage and willingness to die for the freedom of blacks from slavery. Two sons of Frederick Douglas served with this regiment.

During the civil war, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment served for a year without pay to protest the difference in pay for black and white soldiers. The pay was $13 for whites and $7 for blacks.

The Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism, above and beyond the call of duty, was bestowed on 16 Union Army Black soldiers and five Black Navy sailors in the civil war.

John Copeland, Jr., an African American male, took part in the raid on Harpers Ferry. His last words before being hanged were "I am dying for freedom, I could not die for a better cause". The purpose of the raid on Harpers Ferry was to obtain ammunition. Ammunition for the purpose of attacking the institution of slavery and causing a rebellion with the support of armed slaves.

The Black 9th and 10th United States Cavalries fought Geronimo, Pancho Villa and rescued white settlers from the Native Americans. The 9th and 10th Cavalries became known to be Buffalo Soldiers. The Native Americans gave them that name, with respect, because their hair was like the fur of the buffalo.