A Day In Black History

In 1865, a slave and mother named Margaret Garner would become the defendant in one of the longest and most public slave trials in history. Garner and her husband, Robert, worked as slaves all of their lives, so when the Underground Railroad presented an opportunity for escape, they gathered their four children and went to […]

  Archeologists at the National Park Service in Frederick County, Maryland have found slave artifacts from an 18th century, 748-acre plantation called L’Hermitage, located on the Monocacy National Battlefield. The experts dug in the area for months with radar, discovering remnants of four cabins that made up the small slave village. The main house still […]

  Elder Solomon Lightfoot Michaux, also known as the “Happy Am I Preacher,” was a native of Buckroe Beach, Virginia and a devout Baptist. He was named for his Jewish grandfather and  Black/French and Indian mother. He was forced to quit school in the fourth grade to help his family peddle fish to the military […]

There are many men that have made contributions to aeronautics through NASA, but the work of the female scientists is little known – scientists like Katherine G. Johnson. Johnson has made a significant mark in NASA’s history, playing a key role in their use of digital electronic computers. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/21458

  Former slave Belinda Royall was born in Ghana, Africa in 1712. She became one of the first slaves to argue for reparations, suggesting that a slave had the right to financial compensation for their work. This was in the early 19th century. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/21423

  A slave by the name of York was the only black out of the 40 explorers in the Meriwether Lewis – William Clark expedition. Described as a large man raised on little protein and mostly starch, York was owned by Clark’s family, along with his parents, Old York and Rose, his siblings, then later, […]

Fundraising and restoration efforts are underway for the historic Howard Theater in Washington D.C., which celebrates its centennial anniversary this year. Located on T Street NW in Shaw, the theater was known as the “largest colored theater in the world,” established before the legendary Apollo or the Regal. It was the first full-size theater in […]

Dancer, actress, comedian and author Norma Miller is known to many as the Queen of Swing. Her name is associated with some of the top acts of the past and present. She’s worked closely with Redd Foxx, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Ed Sullivan, Pearl Bailey, Cootie Williams, Cab Calloway and Ethel […]

Dancer, actress, comedian and author Norma Miller is known to many as the Queen of Swing. Miller was discovered dancing outside the Savoy Ballroom back in 1932 by a man named Twistmouth George when she was only 12 years old. She would later be picked up by the Whitey Lindy Hoppers dance group at the […]

Many know Amy Ashwood Garvey as the ex-wife of Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey. But the Port Antonio, Jamaica native is partly responsible for the creation of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. She and her husband would use all of their resources to aide in the liberation of Jamaica. Working as the general secretary and leader […]

James Reese Europe of Mobile, Alabama is known to be the first African-American musician to record music in the United States. Since he was 10 years old, he studied music with the local Marine Corps band before moving to New York with his family in 1904. Europe would find a leadership role with the well-known […]