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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November |
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1 | First issue of Ebony published in 1945. First issue of Crisis published in 1910. |
16 | "Father of the Blues," W.C. Handy, was born in Florence, AL, in 1873. |
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2 | President Ronald Reagan signed law designating the third Monday in January Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in 1983. |
17 | Omega Psi Phi, fraternity, was founded on the campus of Howard University 4, 1911. |
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3 |
South Carolina State College was established in 1896. |
18 | Abolitionist and orator, Sojourner Truth was born in 1787. |
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4 | T. Elkins patented the refrigerating apparatus in 1879. |
19 |
Roy Campanella was named most valuable player of the National Baseball League for the second time, 1953. |
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5 | Walter E. Washington elected Mayor of Washington, D.C., in 1974. |
20 |
Garrett T Morgan patented the traffic signal in 1923. |
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6 | Absalom Jones, minister, born in 1746. |
21 |
Shaw University was founded in 1865. |
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7 | David Dinkins elected first black Mayor of New York City in 1989. |
22 | Alrutheus A. Taylor, teacher and historian, was born in 1893. |
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8 |
Edward W. Brooke was elected first Black U.S. senator (R-Mass) in 85 years, in 1966. |
23 | J.L. Love put patents on the pencil sharpener in 1897. |
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9 | Benjamin Banneker, surveyor, born in 1731. |
24 |
Scott Joplin, composer, born in 1868. |
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10 |
Andrew Hatcher was named associate press secretary to President JFK, becoming the first Black press secretary, in 1960. |
25 | Luther "Bill" Robinson, dancer, died in 1949. |
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11 | Veterans Day Nat Turner, leader of a Virgina slave revolt, was hanged in 1831. |
26 | Sojourner Truth, evangelist, died in 1883. |
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12 | In 1775 General George Washington issued an order, later rescinded, which forbade recruiting officers to enlist Blacks. |
27 | Richard Wright, author, died in 1960. |
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13 | Dwight Gooden won the Cy Young Award in 1985. |
28 | Ernie Davis became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. |
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14 | Booker T. Washington died in 1915. |
29 | Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was born in 1908. |
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15 | In 1979, the Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to Professor Arthur Lewis of Princeton. |
30 | Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was born in 1924. |
