First Game of Negro National League Baseball
On May 2, 1920, the first game of the Negro National Baseball League was played in Indianapolis, Indiana. The league produced a number of top players that eventually joined the Major Leagues.
Black Heritage
Emancipation Day in Washington, DC
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act. The act freed over 3,100 people enslaved in the US capital nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation would free all enslaved people in the US.
Creation of the 15th Amendment
On February 26, 1869, the US Senate passed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, giving people of all races and colors the right to vote. The Amendment would be ratified and become official US law a year later.
Birth of W.E.B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. A founding member of the NAACP, he was a leading civil rights activist.
Malcolm X Assassinated
On February 21, 1965, activist Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City.
Death of Rube Foster
Andrew “Rube” Foster died on December 9, 1930. Known as the “Father of Black Baseball,” he created the Negro National League, the first major professional baseball league for African American athletes.
March On Washington And Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” Speech
As Black Americans struggled against segregation and mistreatment, Civil Rights leaders organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963.
Birth of Ralph Bunche
Ralph Johnson Bunche was born on August 7, 1904, in Detroit, Michigan.
Death of Harriet Tubman
Abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman died on March 10, 1913, in Auburn, New York. She was the most famous “conductor” on the Underground railroad, helping more than 300 enslaved people escape to freedom.