History

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

100 Years of Greek Black History People

The Black Greek Network, run by Otis Collier, compiles information about what African American greek organizations are doing across the USA.

Collier focuses on nine black fraternities and sororities, but he does include other important fellowship organizations, including but not limited to: the Prince Hall Masons, Eastern Star, NAACP, and the Urban League.

On December 4, 1906, the “grandfather of all black Greek organizations.” Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.  Today, the black greek organizations are known as “the divine nine.”

  • Alpha Phi Alpha
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha
  • Delta Sigma Theta
  • Iota Phi Theta
  • Kappa Alpha Psi
  • Omega Psi Phi
  • Sigma Gamma Rho
  • Phi Beta Sigma
  • Zeta Phi Beta

When you discover the Black Greek Network, you’ll find some very interesting profiles of black history people who are also noteworthy black greeks.  Otis’ site offers a great platform for black fraternity and sorority members to share and exchange ideas, information, and news.



Posted by Hugh Smith on 06/07 at 07:37 PM
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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Clifton R. Wharton Sr.'s Stamp of Approval

Among distinguished American diplomats, Clifton R. Wharton Sr. has just been honored by the United States Postal Service with a brand new stamp (May 30, 2006).

Wharton was the first African American foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Department of State.  He was appointed ambassador to Norway by President John Kennedy.

Wharton rose through the ranks by accomplishment, not just by political appointment.

He was the first black diplomat to lead an American delegation to a European country - Romania.

His stamp honors nearly 40 years of public service.

Appropriately, the Wharton stamp was unveiled in Washington D.C. at the world’s largest free stamp expo, the 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition, (May 27 - June 3).  It takes place only in the United States once a decade, and features the world’s rarest stamps from 70 countries.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 05/31 at 09:46 PM
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Friday, May 26, 2006

The U.S. Navy’s first Black Aviator: Jesse Brown

As we remember service men and women on Memorial Day, this quick spotlight features Ensign Jesse Brown, the U.S. Navy’s first black aviator.

He received his wings in 1948.  In December, 1950, his fighter was shot down over North Korea while flying a mission.

Jesse was the first African American naval officer killed during the Korean War.  The Navy awarded Brown the Flying Cross and Air Medal.

In addition to his distinguished medals, a destroyer escort named the USS Jesse Brown was commissioned in 1973, a first for a African American naval officer.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 05/26 at 04:26 PM
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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Azie Taylor Morton, Treasurer of the USA

A Washington D.C. teacher of women’s studies challenged us to obtain some “inside” information about Azie Taylor Morton, the first African American U.S. Treasurer, who is often overlooked among black history people.

Here’s the scoop, direct from the public papers of President Jimmy Carter…

In 1977, President Carter nominated Azie T. Morton, (1936 – 2003), of Annandale, Virginia, to be Treasurer of the United States. Ms. Morton was a staff assistant to the U.S. House District Committee.

She was born February 1, 1936, in Dale, Texas, and received a B.S. from Huston-Tillotson College in 1956.

From 1958 to 1961, Morton was an administrative assistant at the Texas State AFL-CIO, in Austin. She served as an administrative assistant and community relations specialist for the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and the President’s Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing from 1961 to 1966.

From 1966 to 1968, Morton was a complaint investigator and conciliator for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was director of social services for the Wichita, Kansas, Model Cities Program from 1968 to 1971.

Morton was special assistant to the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1971 until 1977, when she went to work for the House District Committee.

In 1974 she was vice chairperson of the Arrangement Committee and deputy conference manager for the 1974 Democratic Conference on Party Organization in Kansas City.

She was a deputy convention manager for the 1976 Democratic National Convention.  In 1975 and 1976, she served on the DNC’s Compliance Review Commission.

A great career of public service from a pioneer, Azie Taylor Morton.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 05/04 at 06:38 PM
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Friday, April 21, 2006

Jerome Ringo - Earth Day Environmental Leader

Saturday, April 22, is Earth Day.  When the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, protection of the environment was not an activity automatically associated with people of color in general, and African Americans in particular.

Thirty-six years later, black history people are making contributions in all sectors of society, including the environmental movement.

In 2005, Jerome Ringo was elected Chairman of the Board of the National Wildlife Federation, the largest conservation environmental organization, with over 4 million members.

Ringo is the first African American elected Chairman of the Board of the NWF.  The National Wildlife Federation has been dedicated to protecting America’s wildlife since 1936.

An Earth Day salute to Jerome Ringo.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 04/21 at 02:31 PM
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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

African American Aviators: Coleman, Brown, Bluford and Young

Recently, Yvonne from St. Petersburg, Florida was curious about the first black woman commercial airline pilot.

According to Empower Encyclopedia:


  • Bessie Coleman, (1892-1926), is given credit as the first black woman in the United States to receive a pilot’s license.

  • Willa Brown started flying in 1934.  She was born in Kentucky, went to school in Indiana, became a teacher in Gary, and learned to fly in Chicago.  Willa Brown obtained her commercial pilot’s license in 1937.

  • Pan American World Airways First Officer and pilot Otis B. Young, of Washington D.C., was the first African American to fly a 747 jumbo jet.  In 1970, the former Air Force aviator flew the first 747 non-stop flight between London and Los Angeles.

  • Jill Brown was accepted by the Navy in 1974 as the first black woman for pilot training.  In 1978, Jill Brown became the first African American woman pilot/First Officer with a major carrier: Texas International Airlines.

In the space age, Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. became the first black American astronaut in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger on August 30, 1983.



Posted by Hugh Smith on 04/19 at 07:49 PM
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Thursday, April 13, 2006

Do you know your Black History as well as Joe?

Cedar City, Utah’s Joe Baker teases your head with this tough brain buster black history quiz he’s prepared...


Questions:

1. Which political party was founded in 1854 for the purpose of ending slavery?

2. Who said “The Republican Party would have the American flag and swastika flying side by side?"

3. Which political party used the 1868 campaign slogan “This is a white man’s country: let white men rule?"

4. Who appointed former Ku Klux Klansman Hugo Black to the Supreme Court?

5. Which party did the “Great Emancipator” Abraham Lincoln belong to?

6. Who is the only current member of congress who was once a “Grand Kleagle” in the Ku Klux Klan?

7. In a 2001 interview who said “There are white n--s. I have seen a lot of white n--s in my time?"

8. What percent of Democrats voted for the Thirteenth Amendment that made slavery unconstitutional?

9. Who deployed the 82nd Airborne to desegregate Little Rock Schools over the resistance of democratic Gov. Orval Faubas?

10. Who first used the “Willie Horton” issue against Michael Dukakis?

11. Which senator led a 14-hour filibuster to delay the 1964 Civil Rights Act?

12. Who ended this filibuster allowing passage of the CRA?

13. Which party cast the highest percentage of votes for the 1964 CRA?

14. What percent of Democrats voted for the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing equal protection?

15. Which president said “it is all so terribly true” after a private screening of D.W. Griffith’s racist film, “Birth of a Nation?"

16. Which party did the first black U.S. House member and first black U.S. Senator belong to?

17. Who appointed the first black 4-star Air Force and Army generals?

18. Who appointed the first black National Security Advisor?

19. Who appointed the first and second black Secretaries of State?

20. Who said that it gave him “psychological gratification” to spit into the soups and salads of white customers while he worked as a waiter?

21. A 2005 blog contained a racist parody of a black U.S. Senate candidate in minstrel makeup and exaggerated lips with the caption: “I’s Simple Sambo and I’s running for the Big House.” An official party Web site linked to this blog. Name the candidate and Web site.


Answers:

1. Republican

2. NAACP Chairman Julian Bond

3. Democratic

4. Democratic president FDR

5. Republican

6. Democratic WV senator Robert Byrd

7. Robert Byrd again

8. Democrats: House 22 percent; Senate 37 percent; Republicans 100 percent

9. Republican President Eisenhower

10. Al Gore Jr., 1988 Democratic primaries

11. Democrat Al Gore, Sr.

12. Republican Sen. Everett

13. Republicans 80 percent, Democrats 64 percent

14. Not one congressional Democrat voted for it vs. 94 percent of Republicans

15. Democratic President Woodrow Wilson

16. Republican

17. Republican President Reagan

18. Republican President George H.W. Bush

19. Republican President George W. Bush

20. Jesse Jackson

21. Maryland U.S. Sen. candidate Republican Michael Steele; the link was on the official Web site of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In addition, a DSCC staffer recently pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining Steele’s credit history. DSCC Chairman Sen. Charles Schumer refuses to apologize for the link or stolen credit history.

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Ok, Joe has put together a whale of a quiz.  It’s the real deal. He’s done his homework.

You say you’re ready for more!...then check out some more questions.  You can choose from a variety of different genres, and rate the questions, in our own online collection of black history quizzes we’ve created.




Posted by Hugh Smith on 04/13 at 11:11 PM
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Black History Heavyweights – the Press and Dr. John Hope Franklin

91 year old Dr. John Hope Franklin was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award from the National Newspaper Publishers Association.  The NNPA is a 65-year-old federation of 200+ black community newspapers across the United States.

Dr. Franklin, holding a doctorate in history from Harvard, is the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University.

In accepting his award, Dr. Franklin stressed the importance of keeping the institution of the black press alive.

Here are some quick black press highlights to remember…


  • The USA’s first African American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was founded in 1827 in New York.
  • Frederick Douglass founded The North Star in Maryland in 1847.
  • William Monroe Trotter founded the Boston Guardian in 1901.
  • Robert S. Abbott founded The Chicago Defender in 1905, which remains the only daily African American newspaper.

John Hope Franklin is a legendary icon in the study of black history.  He’s best known for his classic book, “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans,” (now in its seventh edition).

Even at age 11, there was a connection between Franklin and the black press.  When he accepted his lifetime achievement NNPA Award, Dr. Franklin revealed that he was a carrier of NNPA newspapers The Chicago Defender, and The Pittsburgh Courier, in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

From paper boy to man of letters, Dr. John Hope Franklin, Ph.D., black history scholar superstar.



Posted by Hugh Smith on 03/28 at 08:21 PM
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