Experiencing History: September in Black History

Each month we'll list daily black history notes for the month. Here's what happened in September in Black History.

On September 6 in Black History...
In 1988 - Lee Roy Young becomes the first African American Texas Ranger in the police force's 165 year history.
In 1978 - Foxy Brown was born.
In 1969 - Macy Gray was born.
In 1967 - Walter E. Washington was named Walter E. Washington commissioner and "unofficial" mayor of Washington, D.C. by President Lyndon Johnson.
In 1892 - George "Little Chocolate" Dixon betas Jack Skelly in New Orleans to win the world featherweight title. While some African American citizens celebrate for two days, the New Orleans Times-Democrat says, "It is a mistake to match a Negro and a white man ...to bring the races together on any terms of equality even in the prize ring"
In 1826 - John Brown Russwurm became the first Black to graduate college in America on September 6, 1826 at Bowdoin College. However, just 14 days before Edward Jones graduated Amherst College in Massachusetts.
In 1968, the Kingdom of Swaziland became independent. Swaziland is possibly unique in Africa as being 99% free of political violence. (One political death since independence.) http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/twpub/pag.cgi?m=history

On September 5 in Black History...

In 1960 - Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, was elected President of Senegal. Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal (1960–1980). Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese Democratic Bloc. He is regarded by many as one of the most important African intellectuals of the 20th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_S%C3%A9dar_Senghor#Poetry
In 1916, Frank Yerby, novelist, O. Henry short story award winner was born.
1859, Our Nig by Harriet Wilson, the first novel published in the U.S. by an African American woman, is published. It was lost for years until reprinted with a critical essay by African American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 1983.
In 1899 - J. Ross patented the Bailing Press, Patent No. 632,539.
In 1895 - George Washington Murray was elected to Congress by South Carolina.
In 1846 - Secretary of the American Negro Academy, John W Cromwell was born.
On September 4 in Black History...

In 1960 - Damon Wayans was born.

In 1923 - George Washington Carver of Tuskegee Institute received the Spingarn Medal, the NAACP's highest award, for distinguished research in agricultural chemistry.

In 1908 - Richard Wright was born.

In 1865 - Bowie State College was established in Bowie, MD.

In 1848 - Inventor and engineer, Louis Latimer was born.

In 1981, Beyonce Knowles was born.

On September 3 in Black History...
In 1895, Charles Houston, NAACP leader was born.

1n 1970, The first Congress of African Peoples was held in Atlanta, GA.

In 1990, Jonathan Rodgers became president of CBS's television stations division, making him the highest ranking African American in network television.

On September 2 in Black History...
In 1884, John Parker patents "Parker Pulverizer", U.S. Patent # 304,552 September 2, 1884 "Follower-Screw for Tobacco Presses." Official Gazette of the USPTO v.28, p.883.

Joseph Hatchet

In 1766 - Abolitionist, inventor, entrepreneur, James Forten was born in Philadelphia, PA.
In 1975, Joseph W. Hatchett was sworn in as first Black supreme court justice in the South in the twentieth century. An even more significant step in ending racial separation was Hatchett's reelection in 1976. He became the first black justice to be reelected to the Florida Supreme Court. In 1979, Hatchett resigned his position a Florida Supreme Court Justice in order to step into another first. In that year Hatchett became the first black justice admitted to a federal court of appeals in the south when he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. When the 5th Circuit split in 1981 to form the 5th Circuit and 11th Circuit, Hatchett went with the 11th Circuit. He remained in this position until 1999 and served as Chief Justice of this body from 1996 to 1999. Hatchett now works as an of counsel attorney with Akerman Senterfitt in Tallahassee, Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_W._Hatchett

Frank Robinson

In 1966 - Professional baseball player, Frank Robinson was named MVP of the American League. He played from 1956–1976, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. He is the only player to win league MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues. He won the Triple crown, was a member of two teams that won the World Series (the 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles), and amassed the fourth-most career home runs at the time of his retirement (he is currently tied for eighth). Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. Robinson was the first African-American hired to serve as manager in Major League history. He managed the Cleveland Indians during the last two years of his playing career, compiling a 186–189 record. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robinson

On September 1 in Black History...
In 1975 - Gen. Daniel James Jr. was promoted to rank of four-star general and named commander-in-chief of the North American Air Defense Command.

In 1867, Robert Freeman became the first Black person to graduate from Harvard Dental School.