Events in history help complete the understanding of African American history. This month-by-month outline of historic dates relevant to South Carolina African American history offers readers a perspective that compliments the biographical data on African American leaders. This timeline view helps complete the picture of the African American impact on South Carolina history.
| January | February |
| March | April |
| May | June |
| July | August |
| September | October |
| November | December |
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March |
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1 | Writer Ralph Ellison was born in 1914. |
16 | Freedom's Journal founded in 1827. |
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2 | Dr. Jerome H. Holland elected to the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. |
17 | St. Patrick's Day Jackie Robinson made his professional debut as a member of the Montreal Royals in 1946. |
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3 |
Carole Gist was crowned first black Miss USA in 1990. |
18 | Charlie Pride, country singer, born in 1938. |
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4 | Garrett A. Morgan, scientist and inventor, was born in 1877. |
19 |
Nat King Cole was born in 1919. |
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5 | Blanche Kelso Bruce of Mississippi elected to full term in U.S. Senate in 1975. |
20 |
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was published in 1852. |
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6 |
Dred Scott decision handed down by Supreme Court in 1857. |
21 |
Selma march began in 1965. |
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7 | First cadets graduated from flying school at Tuskegee in 1942. |
22 | Marcus Garvey, Black nationalist, arrived in America from Jamaica, 1916. |
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8 |
Senate refuses to seat P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana in 1876. |
23 | NBA star, Moses "The Mailman" Malone was born in 1954. |
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9 |
Clifton Wharton is sworn in as ambassador to Norway in 1961. |
24 |
AME Zion Church organized in S.C. in 1867. |
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10 |
Harriet Tubman died in 1913. |
25 | Poll Tax ruled unconstitutional in 1966. |
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11 |
Lorraine Hansberry play, Raisin in the Sun, opened on Broadway in 1959. |
26 | William H. Hastie confirmed as Federal District Judge of the Virgin Islands in 1937. |
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12 | Andrew Young born in 1932. |
27 | Arthur Mitchell, dancer and choreographer, born, 1934. |
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13 | Fannie Lou Hamer, activist, dies, 1977. |
28 | Slavery abolished in New York in 1799. |
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14 | Quincy Jones, composer and musician, born, 1933. |
29 | Pearl Bailey was born in 1918. |
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15 | Los Angeles Sentinel founded by Leon H. Washington in 1933. |
30 | 15th Amendment was enacted in 1870. |
