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.
Black Heritage
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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.
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Malcolm X Assassinated
On February 21, 1965, activist Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City.
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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.
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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.
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Birth of Ralph Bunche
Ralph Johnson Bunche was born on August 7, 1904, in Detroit, Michigan.
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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.
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Birth of Barbara Jordan
Barbara Charline Jordan was born on February 21, 1936, in Houston, Texas. She was the first African-American woman elected to the Texas Legislature and the first African American woman from a southern state to serve in the US Congress.
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Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass
While the exact date of abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s birth is unknown, it’s generally considered to be February 14, 1818. Douglass was an abolitionist and suffragist, one of the leading civil rights leaders of the 19th century.
