African Americans in Religion
1773 First known black Baptist church is founded in Sliver Bluff, South Carolina; other...
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Category: African American History
African Americans in the Arts
1760 Poet Jupiter Hammon, an ex-slave living in New York, publishes his first poem, “An Evening...
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African Americans in Politics
1836 Alexander Twilight becomes the first African American elected to public office when he wins a...
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African Americans in Sciences and Professional Fields
1783 Former slave James Derham buys his freedom from his physician slave owner, who trains him as...
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African Americans in Education
1804 Lemuel Haynes receives an honorary master’s degree from Middlebury College in Vermont 1823...
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Post-Civil-Rights Challenges 1970–2004
1971 Rev. Jesse Jackson founds Operation PUSH, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that...
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Activism and the Civil Rights Era 1940–1969
1941 United States enters World War II; President Roosevelt prohibits racial discrimination within...
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The “New Negro” and the Great Depression 1900–1939
1900 First Pan-African Congress convenes in London to promote the liberation of colonized people;...
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The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Jim Crow Era 1860–1899
The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Jim Crow Era 1860–1899 1860 After the election of...
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Rise of the Abolitionist Movement 1830–1859
1830 First National Negro Convention convenes in Philadelphia 1831 Nat Turner leads...
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Slavery in Early America 1777–1829
1777 Vermont becomes the first U.S. territory to abolish slavery Black slaves in Massachusetts...
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