Amazingblackhistory.com
Newsletter Number 1
Published June 2018
Welcome to the Amazing Black History Newsletter. The intent of the newsletter, like then site itself is to spur an interest in the history of a largely unknown but significant segment of the Population.
Without regard to the race of the individual reader, to awaken the inner intellect and motivate people to explore the inner genius that is in all of us.
We are hopeful that readers will provide constructive observations that will allow us to provide information that is of interest to our readers. It is also hoped that the readers will openly share the site and articles with others.
Feel free to use this link to communicate with us Contact amazingblackhistory.com
There is a new article being published today, dedicated to “The Harlem Hellfighters” the All-Black regiment that was the most decorated unit in World War I.
They remain mostly unknown and unrecognized 100 years after their most heroic actions.
These men fought on two fronts. In addition to fighting for the ideals and principals of the United States of America, they also fought for recognition as full citizens of The United States of America.
You are invited to this article by clicking “Harlem Hellfighters – Heroes of World War I”
The following are articles related to News and other sources that you may find interesting.
3 Banneker High School students Makayla Sharrieff, India Skinner and Bria Snell were competing for a NASA science project award and found the ugly head of racism attempt to sabotage their chances.
The all-female, all-Black team was working on a water purification project inspired by the fact that some water fountains in their school were unusable because of the possibility of lead contamination. A problem facing many areas of our great nation and other countries around the world.
Rather than encouraging the positive efforts of the team, some took to social media and used it in an effort to cast a negative image on the team and its efforts.
Macon Bolling Allen (born Allen Macon Bolling)– is believed to be the first African American to practice law in the US. He passed the Maine bar 1844, was a justice of the Peace in Massachusetts in 1848.
Allen moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a probate court judge in 1874. After the Reconstruction era, he moved to Washington, D. C. and worked as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association.
Rosetta Y Burke – first Female to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in New York
We sometimes underestimate the power of dreams and role models in our lives. We don’t see the potential of following a dream.
Listen to General Rosetta Y Burke as she talks about pursing her dream. The dream of young Rosetta Y Burke.
Short Article – Major General Rosetta Y Burke
Helen Clayton (Mrs. Robert Clayton) first Black woman Board President of a YWCA branch, 3 members resigned in protest over her election.
Helen Clayton was more than qualified to lead the Grand Rapids (West Central Michigan at the time) YWCA when she was elected in 1949. She proved to be an effective leader.
Henry O Flipper – first Black to graduate from The United States Military Academy at West Point.
Henry Ossian Flipper was born into slavery March 21, 1856 in Thomasville, Georgia. In 1877, he graduated from the West Point and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant assigned to the all-Black 10th Calvary. He became the first nonwhite officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers.
Flipper served with competency and distinction during the Apache Wars and the Victoria Campaign.
Evelyn Boyd Granville – 2nd Black woman to receive a Ph D. In Mathematics Worked for NASA and created computer software for NASA’s project Vanguard and Project Mercury Space Programs.
Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr. was first commissioned an ensign, November 14, 1944. He has many firsts in the US Navy.
The first to serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer.
The first to command a Navy ship.
He was also the first fleet commander.
The first to become a flag officer,
Gravely retired in 1980 as Vice Admiral.
Michelle Janine Howard – Admiral in the US Navy and selected first in many categories.
She became the first Admiral selected from the United States Naval Academy class of 1982.
The first to achieve the 2-star and 3-star rank in 2006.
The first to command a U. S. Navy Ship, the USS Rushmore.
Howard became the first female graduate of the Naval Academy to be selected for flag rank.
James Lloyd Jackson – One of the little-known heroes of the D-Day Landing on Normandy Beach in France in 1944.
Jackson joined the U.S. Army as a private in 1943. In 1944 Sergeant Jackson led the 531st Combat Engineers onto Normandy Beach. His unit captured German soldiers including Max Schmeling. Schmeling was the boxing great who fought Joe Louis in 1937 and 1938.
Jackson made a career of the military and retired following the end of the Korean war. He studies at various universities and in 1975 earned the Bachelor of Science degree from Western Washington University.
Following retirement, he worked for the City of Seattle, Washington and volunteered many hours to leadership and gardening projects.
Major James Lloyd Jackson died in Seattle, May 6, 2008 at the age of 88.
Horace King – Black Bridge builder in the South
Horace King was born into slavery in 1807 in South Carolina. He was a well-respected Architect, Bridge Builder and Engineer, working in the Deep South and is well known for bridges constructed in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, prior to the Civil War.
His most prominent bridges were constructed in the Chattahoochee River Valley. King constructed bridges using the lattice trust style and built every major bridge crossing the Chattahoochee River and every major river in the Deep South between the Oconee (Georgia) and the Tombigbee (Alabama and Mississippi)
King was able to purchase his freedom in 1846, however under Alabama law a freed slave could only remain in the state one year. The Alabama State Senate passed a special law giving King his freedom and exempted him from this law.
He became active in politics and was elected and served as a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives from 1868 to 1872. This was during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
Loving v Virginia – Landmark interracial love case
The case was brought by Mildred Loving on behalf of herself and her husband Richard, who had been sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia because they married each other.
Virginia had anti-miscegenation laws that prohibited marriage and even relationships between people of different races.
Mildred was Black, and her husband Richard was White. They married in another state and were arrested when they returned home to Virginia.
Anti-miscegenation laws had been upheld in the Pace v Alabama case but were overturned by Loving v Virginia. The ruling applied to all states.
June 12 has been designated as Loving Day to celebrate this case.
National Museum to Peace and Justice (lynching memorial)
There is a new National Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to the 4,400 plus people in the United States who were lynched for various infractions that in many cases seem petty.
Many people have lost their lives for such “crimes” as not stepping off the sidewalk and into the street when a White person passed by. Not tipping your hat. In the case of soldiers who have fought for their country, for wearing their military uniform.
This is tragic in itself and worse when it is discovered that these American citizens never got benefit of a trial.
Many Lynchings were advertised in advance and witnessed by youth in addition to large crowds of adults. Bodies were mutilated, body parts sold and traded. Entire industries flourished that sold souvenirs of the events.
In order for the Country to heal, this is a discussion that must be faced.
A tour of the museum ends on a positive note and features options for positive actions to prevent this from happening yet again.
Plan your visit – for information on hours, location etc. … click this link National Memorial for Peace and Justice hours and location
My Mother was sold from me – one of the harsh realities of slavery is that families were split apart. Spouses were sold away from each other. Parents were separated from each other. Siblings were separated and sent in different directions.
The following is a tool that may help genealogist in this area.
Ads placed after slavery looking for family members. The ads tool
Ann Petry – first Black female novelist to sell 1 million copies of her book “The Street”
James Thomas Rapier – Alabama Representative to US during reconstruction
James Thomas Rapier was born in Florence, Alabama, but attended High school in Nashville, Tennessee. At the age of 19, he attended the King School in Buxton, Ontario, Canada. This was an experimental Black community. He also attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland and College in Nashville. He received a teaching certificate in 1863.
Note: you will notice that Black students often had to move/leave home in order to get or continue their education.
This made education inconvenient, expensive and excluded so many worthy students.
In 1867 The United States Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts. Rapier was elected to the Republican state convention and helped draft the party platform. While he earned the respect of many Republicans, Southern Democrats considered him being in politics at all, unacceptable.
In 1868, he was driven from his home by the Ku Klux Klan and remained in seclusion for a year.
He resumed public life in 1870 and ran for Secretary of State in Alabama. In 1871 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue in the Montgomery district.
Rapier became the Republican party nominee for Congress from Northern Alabama in 1872 and won. He pushed a bill to make Montgomery a port of delivery which was an enormous boost to the city’s economy.
Rapier supported Civil Rights, Education and anti-violence legislation. He was a supporter of the 1875 Civil Rights Law.
Max Robinson – First Black news anchor in the United States. Working for ABC “World News Tonight” with Frank Reynolds and Peter Jennings. He is a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists
Charity Southgate
The history of Charity Southgate is an interesting one. Charity Southgate is the 3rd great grandmother of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. She was born free but enslaved and forced to sue for her freedom.
The status of a person in the United States is determined by the status of the mother, not the father. A person born to a slave, even with a free and/or White father is therefore a slave. A person born to a free White mother, even with a Black or slave father is therefore born free.
Charity Southgate was born to a White free mother, but during her lifetime was sold into slavery. The contract specified that she was enslaved until the age of 28. She sued on the basis that she was born free and therefore should be freed.
Charity’s owner insisted that she would be freed on her 28th birthday and for whatever reason, the court allowed her to remain enslaved. Upon reaching her 28th birthday, her owner failed to release Charity Southgate from slavery and she again sued.
She sued on her behalf and that of her children who were in slavery because of the status of Southgate.
Southgate won and was freed along with her children.
As is apparent from this case, slavery was a cruel and detrimental fact of life for those caught up in the ravages of its tentacles.
Under the system, a slave owner may have children both free and slave. It is shocking the number of people who have close relatives of a different race and status under this system.
The shame of slavery is not on those enslaved, but on those who enslave and, in many cases, brutalize any dehumanize other humans!
The Golden 13 – the first Black officers in the US Navy, an experiment to see if …
In the early days of the United States Navy African Americans could join, but they were limited to being Messmen or Stewards. This action segregated African Americans and prevented them from becoming commissioned officers.
June 1941, President of the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt signed executive order 8802 which prohibited racial discrimination by ANY government agency.
January 1944, the Navy started an accelerated officer training course for 16 African American enlisted men. It is ironic and fitting that the location selected for this training was Camp Robert Smalls at what is now known as Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois.
All 16 passed the course, with excellent grades. They were commissioned as Ensigns or Warrant officers.
In 1987, the Navy reunited the surviving members to dedicate a building at Great Lakes naval Recruitment Training Command. That building 1405 where recruits first arrive for basic training is named “The Golden Thirteen” in their honor.
2006, ground was broken on a World War II memorial in North Chicago, Illinois to honor the Golden Thirteen and Dorie Miller a hero of World War II.
For information on Robert Smalls, see the Article on Robert Smalls
The following 2 articles are very interesting because they focus on race and professional baseball. Together they pose an interesting topic for discussion on race and life in America.
Moses Fleetwood Walker – first openly Black player in Major League Baseball. Walker joined the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884. History suggests that William Edward White was the first African American player, but White passed for Caucasian. Because it is possible for light skinned Blacks to pass as White, many did so to avoid the harsh treatment dispensed liberally to Blacks in the United States. Many chose not to turn their back on their true heritage.
Walker was open about being Black and faced racial bigotry because of it. Due to injuries, Walker played just one season. His brother Weldy Walker became the 2nd Black player, also playing for the Toledo club.
As we look at the history of Blacks in sports we overlook the fact that the National Football League broke the color barrier in 1946 when the Rams signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. Chicago had Bill Wills and Woody Strode. There were periods when others played in the league.
The much-heralded case of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier was in 1947.
There was pressure to have Black NFL players in 1940, but George Preston Marshall the owner of the Washington Redskins prevented it.
Marshall and the Redskins were the last All-White team in the league and only relented when the United States Interior Secretary Steward Udall threatened to kick them out of their Washington, D.C. stadium unless …
William Edward White – first Black major league player, passed for a White man.
Research into his ancestry finds the following:
He was born in Milner, Georgia and was the son of Andrew Jackson White and his Black slave Hannah. The only person with the name of William Edward White in the 1870 census is a 9-year-old mulatto boy, living with his mother Hannah. All of the children are listed in the will of Andrew Jackson White’s will, dated 1877. This will stipulated that his children would be educated in the North.
William Edward White was playing on the Brown University baseball team when he was recruited to play for the Providence Grays of the National League, June 21, 1879. Brown is indeed located in Providence, Rhode Island, which us is in the North.
From all indications, William Edward White is the first Black to play Major League Baseball, preceding the Walker boys by 5 years and Jackie Robinson by 68 years.
The 1900 and 1910 census records suggest that he moved to Chicago and became a bookkeeper, however it lists him as having been born in Rhode Island and being White.
The 1920 census lists William Edward White as being 60 years old, born in Georgia and lists him as being Black.
Many light skinned Blacks moved away from their homes and assumed a new identity, avoiding the harsh treatment and limitations that came with being identified as Black.
Agrippa Hull – Black who served during the entirety of the American Revolutionary War.
Agrippa Hull was born free in 1759 and enlisted in the Colonial army in 1777 where he served for the duration of the war.
Hull returned to Stockbridge and was a neighbor of Elizabeth Freeman, also known as “MumBet”. There will be a future article devoted to this courageous woman. Elizabeth “MomBet” Freeman was the first enslaved African American to win her freedom under the New Massachusetts State Constitution.
Judge Theodore Sedgewick represented Freeman in her suit. He also helped Jane Darby, an enslaved woman who sought refuge. Darby met and married Hull.
As we close this edition of the newsletter we look at a remarkable tribute to the razor-sharp mind and tongue of Agrippa Hull.
Hull accompanied his White employer to hear a “distinguished mulatto preacher”. The White gentleman, like so many others seldom pass an opportunity to degrade and offend people of color asked Hull “How do you like N***er preaching? Hull replied “Sir, he was half Black and half White. I liked my half; how did you like yours?
As we close, please bear in mind that as we cast disparaging remarks about others we may be doing so to close family members and while some of these comments are well deserve, most are not. This is not a one-way street as racial prejudices work both ways. Please help return civility to our civilization while there is still time.