African American History Calendar

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August 1, 1879 - Mary Eliza Mahoney graduates from the New England Hospital for Women and Children, becoming the first black professional nurse in America

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William Still starts underground railroad - 1850

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August 3, 1800 - Gabriel Prosser leads slave revolt in Richmond, Va.

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W.S. Grant's curtain rod supports patented - 1896

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August 5, 1962 - Nelson Mandela, South African freedom fighter, imprisoned. He was not released until 1990.

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President Lyndon Johnson signs Voting Rights Bill - 1965

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August 7, 1894 - Joseph Lee patents kneading machine.

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August 9, 1936 - Jesse Owens wins fourth gold medal at Summer Olympics in Berlin.

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August 10, 1989 - General Colin Powell is nominated chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first African American to hold the post.

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Mississippi excluded African Americans from political life - 1890

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President Lincoln speaks to African American audience at the White House - 1862

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August 15, 1888 - Granville T. Woods patents electromechanical brake.

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Federal Government issues warrant for Angela Davis - 1970

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M.C. Harvey's Lantern patented - 1864

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20 Africans brought to Jamestown as slaves - 1619

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August 21, 1831 - Nat Turner leads slave revolt in Virginia.

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Henry Highland Garnett calls for general slave strike in Buffalo, NY - 1843

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August 31, 1836 - Henry Blair patents cotton planter. Henry Blair was the second black inventor to receive a patent the first was Thomas Jennings who received a patent in 1821 for a dry cleaning process. He was born in Glen Ross, Maryland, United States in 1807. Henry Blair was the only inventor to be identified in the Patent Office records as "a colored man."

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Federal Government arms 5,000 slaves - 1862

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August 25, 1908 - National Association of Colored Nurses founded.

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August 26, 1920 - 19th Amendment to the Constitution ratified, giving women the right to vote.

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W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) is widely recognized as a significant figure: for his pursuit of social justice, for his literary imagination, and for his pioneering social-scientific studies. He is read with profit today in the academic fields of sociology, literature, and history, and in the trans-disciplinary realms of urban studies and gender studies. Nevertheless, Du Bois was, and remains still, a contentious figure.

W.E.B. DuBois challenged the oppressive dimensions of the society in which he lived. His increasingly radical stances on the political and economic issues of his day, as well as his emigration to Ghana, heightened his controversy in some circles. For many, time has not lessened the more provocative aspects of his life.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads a march on Washington and delivers his "I have a dream" speech - 1963.

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August 28, 1888 - Granville T. Woods patents railway telegraphy.

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August 30, 1983 - Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes the first African American astronaut in space.

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On August 30th 1800, a group of slaves from Henrico County, Virginia, marched on Richmond. The slaves had planned the insurrection for months, under the leadership of Gabriel Prosser. They managed to secure weaponry such as clubs and swords for the revolt. Once in the city the slaves intended to capture more arms, and spark a general slave insurrection.

http://modernhistorian.blogspot.com/2008/08/on-this-day-in-history-slave-rebellion.html

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The USS Harmon, the first US Navy ship to be named for an African American, is commissioned - 1943