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=Welcome to Metro Christian Academy 8th Grade Black History Timeline! =

Explore the history of //Black History// Month, a celebration of achievements by African Americans and important milestones throughout U.S. history.


 * Contributors:** Josh Bettis, Ross Black, Garrett Brown, Rose Duke, Mallory Duncan, Caroline Friesenhahn, Jubliee Frizzell, Elizabeth Hollowell, John Krieger, Sammie Lawson, Grant Lieder, Bryce Lindsey, Rachel Mathieson, Carson McCullough, Mackenzie Moore, Aubrey Rosencutter, Ty Tregoining, Haleigh Warren

1739... Stono Rebellion
On September 9, 1739, on a Sunday morning a group of slaves numbering around 20 gathered around the Stono River in South Carolina. The rebels entered into a gun store killing the owner and stealing guns and ammunition. The group then started the march to Charlestown which was about 20 miles away carrying the proclaiming “FREADOM” and collecting more slaves and killing the slaves’ masters and their whole household. A group of armed whites ranging between 20- 100 confronted the rebellion. After the skirmish 30 slaves lay dead some killed in battle some beheaded. In total 44 blacks and 21 whites died as a result of the rebellion. The Stono rebellion prompted the Negro act of 1740 which confronted the problem of slave punishment, treatment, and rights.

1754... Lemuel Haynes
Lemuel Haynes was born in West Hartford, Connecticut on July 18, 1754. Five months after he was born, he was bound to service in Middle Granville, Massachusetts to David Rose until he reached age 21. Haynes enlisted in the local militia when his indenture ended in 1774. While he was in the militia, he wrote a ballad-sermon about the Battle of Lexington. Haynes’s poem emphasized conflicts of slavery and freedom; although it did not directly address black slavery. After the war, Haynes was given the opportunity to study at Dartmouth College, but instead chose to study Latin and Greek with clergymen in Connecticut. In 1780, Haynes was licensed to preach and took a position with a white congregation in Middle Granville. Lemuel Haynes later married a white schoolteacher Elizabeth Babbitt. In 1785, Haynes was ordained as a Congregational Minister. Lemuel Haynes died on September 28, 1833. It is said that Haynes may be the first African American selected as the leader of a mainstream Protestant Church in the United States.

1789... Josiah Henson
Abolitionist, minister. Born into slavery June 15, 1789, in Port Tobacco, Maryland, Henson witnessed frequent abuses to his family. Henson's brother and sisters were also sold off one by one, as was his mother. Henson eventually landed in the hands of owner Isaac Riley in Maryland. Riley saw Henson's potential, and moved him from laborer to market man. In this position, proved his morality and obedience to Riley, who allwed Henson to begin attending Christian sermons. During one particular sermon, Henson came into contact with an anti-slavery preacher, and was exposed to the abolitionist movement. Henson and 22 other slaves were sold to Riley's brother, Amos, in Kentucky. Riley made Henson promise to deliver himself and the other slaves safely to Kentucky. Henson kept his word and all were delivered, even though they traveled through the free state of Ohio. As Henson tried to raise the money, his new master sold him to a new planter in New Orleans. This was the last straw for Henson, and in 1830 he decided to flee to Canada with his wife and children. On October 28, 1830, Henson and his family settled in Dresden, Ontario. For the next four years, Henson worked as a farm laborer and preacher in the area, and had his oldest son teach him how to read and write. He also became involved in the Underground Railroad, leading over 200 slaves to freedom. In 1842, he developed his own Afro-Canadian community that taught practical skills to his fugitives. In 1849, Henson published his autobiography, //The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself//. In 1852, [|__Harriet Beecher Stowe__] published //Uncle Tom's Cabin//, a fictional portrayal of slavery in America. Beecher later revealed that one of the novel's main characters, Uncle Tom, was based on Josiah Henson. This made Henson famous, and for a few years afterward he made the lecture circuit as the "real Uncle Tom. " Henson died on May 5, 1883.



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**1791... Thomas L Jennings**
Thomas L. Jennings was born a free black in New York, N.Y. in 1791. Jennings was a sailor in New York city. Jennings invented the dry cleaning business in New York City. He was the first African-American to receive a patent in 1821. The patent raised controversy because the patent laws clearly included a color bias. Since the law pecifically excluded slaves, he was not affected because he was born a free black. He used the money earned from the patent to buy relatives back from slavery. In 1831, he became assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, PA. Thomas L. Jennings died in New York, in 1856.

1839... Tice Davids
This picture is the “Freedom Stairway,” the stairway leading from the Ohio River to the John Rankin house in Ripley, a station in the Underground Railroad.

In 1839, Tice Davids most likely went up these steps when he fled from his slave owner. Davids started his escape by heading for the Ohio River. After Davids swam across the Ohio River, his owner was determined not to lose Davids, so he kept him in close pursuit on a boat. He was just minutes in front of his owner when we crossed the Ohio River. His owner could not find him. The owner then said “He must have taken an underground road!” Local abolitionist probably hid Davids, and helped him escape. There is myth that Davids’ escape named the Underground Railroad. But many historians are divided on the accuracy of this statement.

1854... Lincoln University
Lincoln University in Pennsylvania was founded in 1854 by John Dickey, a Presbyterian minister and his wife, Sarah Cresson. It is located on Baltimore Pike in southern Chester County. Lincoln University is the oldest black college in the country. Lincoln was originally named Ashmun Institute, after the religious leader and social reformer, Jehudi Ashmun, to educate young men of African descent. In 1866, about a year after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the school was renamed to Lincoln University to honor the dead president. It is the first degree-awarding school of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States. The University has a number of famous graduates, including Langston Hughes, famous American poet, Thurgood Marshall, the first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and Hildrus A. Poindexter, an internationally recognized authority on tropical diseases, the first president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and the first Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. Along with the founding of the school the programUpward Bound came alive as well. This program was originally designed to work primarily with male high school seniors, assisting them in preparing for college. This was to provide students with guidance in the admission and application process. The project also provided students with a summer bridge component to help them in the transition from high school to college. In 1972 the project became coed, giving female students the same opportunity as males in the community.

1866... Cathay Williams
Congress passed an act in 1866 for the first all black units of the military, which later became known as “Buffalo Soldiers.” Around this time, women were not allowed to fight in the Army, but Cathay Williams, a former slave, posed as a man and called herself William Cathay. Cathay Williams was born into slavery in Missouri in 1842 and worked as a house slave. She was a paid servant in the Army after the Civil War broke out and she was freed by Union soldiers. Williams served with General Philip Sheridan while working in Arkansas. Sheridan later took her to Washington to serve as a cook and laundress. After the war was over, she wanted to maintain her financial independence and enlisted in the 38th infantry as William Cathay. Cathay marched among her other troops to many different forts for the next year, but this took a toll on her health. She was recorded as being in four different hospitals on five different occasions. Even after all of those hospital visits, no one discovered she was a woman. On July 13, after marching to Fort Bayard, New Mexico, she was admitted into the hospital and was diagnosed with neuralgia – a catch-all term for any acute, intermittent pain caused by a nerve. During this hospitalization, they discovered she was a woman. Cathay was then discharged at Fort Bayard with a certificate of disability. She was honorably discharged with the legacy of being the first and only female Buffalo Soldierto serve. Cathay Williams then worked as a cook at Fort Union until 1870. Afterwards, she settled in Trinidad, Colorado in 1872 and worked as a laundress and part- time nurse. Her health began to fail and was hospitalized in early 1890 for a year and a half. Her application claimed that she was suffering deafness, rheumatism and neuralgia, all of which she had contracted while in the Army. What happened to Cathay Williams afterwards is unknown, but it appears that she may have died sometime between 1892 and 1900 as her name no longer appeared on Census rolls from 1900.

1887... Marcus Garvey
Marcus was born on August 17th 1887 at St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. He was an orator for the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. In 1911 Marcus Garvey moved to England and briefly studied at Birbeck College where he met other blacks who were involved in his struggle to obtain independence from the British Empire. In June 1917 he organized the first branch of UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) and began published of the Negro World a journal that promoted his African nationalist ideas.In August 1920, UNIA claimed 4 million members and held its first international convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In 1922, Marcus Garvey and three other UNIA officials were charged with mail fraud involving the Black Star Line. On June 23, 1923, Garvey was convicted and sentenced to prison for five years. In 1927 Garvey was released from prison and deported to Jamaica. Garvey moved to London in 1935, but he did not command the same influence he did earlier. Garvey collaborated with outspoken segregationist and white supremacist Senator Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi to promote a reparations scheme. The Greater Liberia Act of 1939 would deport 12 million African-Americans to Liberia at federal expense to relieve unemployment. The act failed in Congress, and Garvey lost even more support among the black population. Marcus Garvey died in London in 1940 after several strokes, and his remains were exhumed and taken to Jamaica, where the government proclaimed him Jamaica's first national hero and re-interred him at a shrine in the National Heroes Park.

1891... Zora Neale Hurston[[image:http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g107/ssstephanie1715/zora_neale_hurston.jpg width="118" height="165" align="right"]]
Zora Neale Hurston was born on Jan 7, 1891. She graduated from Morgan Academy high school and she went to Howard University and received her B.A. in anthropology from Barnard College, Columbia University in 1928. When Zora was three she moved to Eatonville which was the first incorporated black community in America. Her father became mayor of Eatonville later on. Zora was a novelist folklorist and anthropologist. Her first recognized short stories such as “John Redding Goes to Sea” and “Spunk” which were both in black literature magazines. Zora’s first novel was //Jo////nah’s Gourd Vine// which was published in 1934. In 1937 //Their Eyes Watching God// was published. //Their Eyes Watching God// was considered the best one of her writings. Some examples of Zora’s writings are //Tell My Horse,// Moses, Man of the Mountain, //Dust Tracks on a Road,// and //Serpah on the Suwanee,// which was her last novel. When Zora died it was Jan. 28, 1960 and she died in Fort Pierce, Fla.

1896... Negro League
The Negro League was a league that black people (negroes) were allowed to compete in. During the 1800s it was a struggle to get black athletes to compete; many people tried to incorporate them, yet most were turned down in their requests. In 1896, a group of baseball men from Galveston, Texas believed they had found a compromise. All they needed was to introduce their plan for the new Lone Star Colored Baseball League Of Texas. From that idea came the abundance of negro baseball teams from New York to Atlanta from the 1920’s forward.On September 8, 1942, Boston hosted its first game staring two teams from the Negro League majors--the Philadelphia Stars and Baltimore Elite Giants. The game was played in Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia pulled in for the win at 8-7.This baseball league was so revolutionary that in Kansas City, Missouri, there is a museum that is dedicated to only The Negro League.

1901... Thomas L. Jennings
Thomas Jennings was born in 1791. He was 30 years old when he was granted a patent for a dry cleaning process. Thomas Jennings was a free tradesman and operated a dry cleaning business in New York City. His income went mostly to his abolitionist activities. In 1831, Thomas Jennings became assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, PA. Thomas L. Jennings was the first African-American to receive a patent in 1821. It was for a dry-cleaning process in 1821. He used the money earned from the patent to purchase relatives out of slavery and support abolitionist causes. In 1831, he became assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, PA.

1902... John Bubbles
John William Sublett also known at John Bubbles was born on the 19th of February in 1902 in Louisville, Kentucky. Bubbles began dancing at an early age. He came to be known as the “father of rhythm of tap.” Bubbles would soon break the color barrier on one of the most successful shows on television: Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.” Bubbles became one of the biggest vaudeville performers at New York’s Palace Theatre. He developed a unique figure- eight tap dance called the double- over- the- tops. He added multiple taps to the tap shoes changing the original sound of the shoe. Throughout Bubbles carrier he teamed up with the dancer Ford “Buck” Lee Washington; they became known as Buck and Bubbles. After suffering a terrible stroke in 1967, Bubbles retired from performing. He later died on May 18, 1986 in Los Angeles, California.

1906... Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige was born in July 7, 1906 in Mobile, Alabama. Quotes: “If a man can’t beat you, walk him.” “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” “I never had a job. I always played baseball.” “You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.” “Mother always told me; if you tell a lie, always rehearse it. If it doesn’t sound good to you, it won’t sound good to you, it won’t sound good to no one else.”

1920...Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee airmen were the first African –American pursuit squadron of the U.S. military. The Tuskegee airmen originated in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1941.” Tuskegee Airmen “ Was the name given to the people involved in the Tuskegee experiment, when the united states air corps trained African Americans to be ready to fly and handle combat aircraft. They overcame much segregation and prejudice and became one of the most respected fighter clans of World War II. They proved that just because of your race, it doesn’t define what you can accomplish. Time and time again they showed us that even though they had a different skin color than us, they could fly and maintain military aircraft in combat just like we can. What they accomplished has paved the road for the integration of the U.S. military. One person who deserves a lot of credit for the accomplishments of the Tuskegee airmen is Captain Robert M. Glass. Glass was already a qualified pilot when he joined the 332nd fighter group. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,in December 1920; He attended public school and graduated from Carnegie institute of technology with a degree in mechanical engineering. Robert attended flight school in Tuskegee and one of his flight instructors, Benjamin O. Davis, was his commanding officer. He served his country in World War II and in the Korean conflict. He will never be forgotten for his service to our country and the work that he did within the group of African American pilots know as the Tuskegee Airmen.

1925... Emmett W. Chappelle[[image:blackhistoryfactsmca/untitled.png width="64" height="75" align="right"]]
Emmett W. Chappelle was born on October 25, 1925 in Phoenix, Arizona. He attended the University of South Carolina in 1950, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. From 1950-1953 he served as an instructor of biochemistry at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Chappelle went back to college earning a Master of Science degree from the University of Washington in 1954. Between 1963 and 1966, Chappelle served as a biochemist for Hazelton Laboratories in New Jersey. He has been all around the U.S. serving as a biochemist and instructor for colleges. He worked as a biochemist for the division of Research Center for Space Exploration before joining NASA. Chappelle decided to be an Astrochemist. With his skills in this area, he came to a conclusion that he wanted to work in the Goddard Space Flight Center as a Remote Sensing Scientist. He then retired in 2001. He invented the Lyophilized Reaction Mixtures. Chappelle’s discoveries led to methods to instantly detect bacteria in water. This led to improved diagnoses of urinary tract infections. Emmett Chappelle is still alive to this day at age 86.

1928... Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is a famous African American poet of today. She was born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. As a young single mother, she supported her son by working as a waitress and cook, however her passion for music, dance, performance, and poetry would soon take center stage. In 1964, while in Ghana, she met Malcolm X and returned to America to help him build his new Organization of African American Unity. Shortly after her arrival in the United States, Malcolm X was assassinated, and the organization dissolved. Soon after X's assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked Dr. Angelou to serve as Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King's assassination left her devastated. With the guidance of her friend, the novelist James Baldwin, she began work on the book that would become I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Published in 1970 Dr. Angelou has served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008, and has received 3 Grammy Awards .Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts.

1936... Robert H Lawrence, Jr.
Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr., was the first African American astronaut. Robert was born on October 2, 1935 in Chicago. He attended Bradley University and received a BS in Chemistry and an AF ROTC commission in 1956. After completing pilot training, Lawrence served in West Germany as a fighter pilot and an instructor. He then attended Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, where he earned a PhD in physical chemistry. Lawrence graduated from the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards in California and was selected for the Defense Department’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory space project in 1967. The project was to involve two-man crews aboard advanced Gemini spacecraft spending one to two months docked to a small space station performing defense related research. When that project was canceled for budget reasons in mid-1969, the younger astronauts were transferred to NASA where they formed the majority of early Space Shuttle astronauts for missions in the early 1980’s. Lawrence was not among them because he was killed in an aircraft accident at Edwards AFB. He was the instructor pilot for another test pilot who was learning high-speed landings in a plane modified to fly like an aerospace plane. The student pilot landed hard and the aircraft began to break up and roll, and both pilots ejected. The student survived but Lawrence died.

1943... Guion "Guy" Bluford
On November 22, 1942 Guion Bluford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He became the first African American to travel into space in 1983. He attended college at Pennsylvania State, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering. His career began by working in the Air Force as a pilot in the Vietnam War. In 1974 and 1978 he earned a master of science in aerospace engineering and a PhD in aerospace engineering and laser physics both from the Air Force Institution of technology. While working for the Air Force and Nasa has flown in 8 different planes for more than 5,200 hours. Guy Bluford became an astronaut in 1979. He has been into space three times and has been into space for more than 688 hours. Bluford has been recognized in many different public events and has been given several different trophies. Guion “Guy” Bluford has helped advanced astronomy in many ways.

1966... The Black Panthers[[image:black_panther.jpg width="37" height="56"]]
The Black Panther Party was established in October of 1966, in Oakland, California. The founders were Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton. The Black Panthers believed the black people had the right to defend themselves against racists in all means, including violence. Some of their ideas were full employment, decent housing, and education for all African Americans. Their theory was to stand up and fight for all oppressed minority groups. Black Panther Party branches began popping up everywhere and police departments made raids on the member’s homes and offices. The FBI launched a team named COINTELPRO to keep black groups from growing influence. The Black Panther Party was infuriated and they often confronted police men and had shootouts. After over twenty members were killed and some members in prison; Huey Newton tried to persuade the party to reach out to the community instead of starting riots. The Black Panther Party founded social programs such as free medical clinics and handing out clothing and food to gain support for their party. The members of the party either began to drift away or where driven away, also internal stress came to erode the Black Panther Party. Their actions and enthusiastic promoting represents the last great thrust by the mass of black people for equality, justice and freedom.



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