1852


Daniel A. P. Murray born. Born in Baltimore on March 3. Murray, an 
African-American, was assistant librarian of Congress, and a collector of 
books and pamphlets by and about black Americans.


Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, published 
on March 20, focused national attention on the cruelties of slavery.


1854


Lincoln University chartered. Initially known as Ashmun Institute, Lincoln 
University was chartered in Oxford, Pennsylvania, on January 1. It was 
one of America's earliest Negro colleges. 


1856


Booker Taliaferro Washington born. Born in Franklin County, Virginia, on April 
5, Washington was the first principal of Tuskegee Institute (1881), and was the 
individual most responsible for its early development. Washington was considered 
the leading African-American spokesman of his day.


1857


Supreme Court rules on the Dred Scott case. On March 6, the Supreme Court 
decided that an African-American could not be a citizen of the U.S., and thus 
had no rights of citizenship. The decision sharpened the national debate over 
slavery.


1859


John Brown's raid. On October 16-17, John Brown raided the federal arsenal 
at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (today located in West Virginia). Brown's 
unsuccessful mission to obtain arms for a slave insurrection stirred and divided 
the nation. Brown was hanged for treason on December 2. 


The last slave ship arrives. During this year, the last ship to bring slaves to the 
United States, the Clothilde, arrived in Mobile Bay, Alabama.


1860


Abraham Lincoln elected president. Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected 
president on November 6, 1860. 

Census of 1860. 

	U.S. population:  31,443,790 
	Black population:  4,441,790 (14.1%)


1862


Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia. Congress abolished slavery in the
District of Columbia -- an important step on the road for freedom for all 
African-Americans.


1863


The Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation took effect 
January 1, legally freeing slaves in areas of the South in rebellion.


New York City draft riots. Anti-conscription riots started on July 13 and lasted 
four days, during which hundreds of black Americans were killed or wounded.


The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers. On July 18, the Fifty-Fourth 
Massachusetts Volunteers -- the all-black unit of the Union army portrayed in the 
1989 Tri-Star Pictures film Glory -- charged Fort Wagner in Charleston, South 
Carolina. Sergeant William H. Carney becomes the first African-American to 
receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery under fire.


1864


Equal pay. On June 15, Congress passed a bill authorizing equal pay, equipment, 
arms, and health care for African-American Union troops.


The New Orleans Tribune. On October 4, the New Orleans Tribune began publication. 
The Tribune was one of the first daily newspapers produced by blacks.


1865


Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment. Slavery would be outlawed in the 
United States by the Thirteenth Amendment, which Congress approved and sent 
on to the states for ratification on January 31. 


The Freedmen's Bureau. On March 3, Congress established the Freedmen's 
Bureau to provide health care, education, and technical assistance to emancipated 
slaves.


Death of Lincoln. On April 15, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated; Vice President 
Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee Democrat, succeeded him as president.


Ratification of Thirteenth Amendment. The Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery, 
was ratified on December 18.


1866


Presidential meeting for black suffrage. On February 2, a black delegation led by 
Frederick Douglass met with President Andrew Johnson at the White House to 
advocate black suffrage. The president expressed his opposition, and the meeting 
ended in controversy.


Civil Rights Act. Congress overrode President Johnson's veto on April 9 and passed 
the Civil Rights Act, conferring citizenship upon black Americans and guaranteeing 
equal rights with whites.


Memphis massacre. On May 1-3, white civilians and police killed forty-six 
African-Americans and injured many more, burning ninety houses, twelve schools, 
and four churches in Memphis, Tennessee.


The Fourteenth Amendment. On June 13, Congress approved the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing due process and equal protection 
under the law to all citizens. The amendment would also grant citizenship to blacks.


Police massacre. Police in New Orleans stormed a Republican meeting of blacks 
and whites on July 30, killing more than 40 and wounding more than 150.


Founding of the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, an organization formed to intimidate 
blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities, first met in Maxwell House, Memphis. 
The Klan was the first of many secret terrorist organizations organized in the South 
for the purpose of reestablishing white authority.


1867


Black suffrage. On January 8, overriding President Johnson's veto, Congress granted 
the black citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote.


Reconstruction begins. Reconstruction Acts were passed by Congress on March 2. 
These acts called for the enfranchisement of former slaves in the South.


1868


Fourteenth Amendment ratified. On July 21, the Fourteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship to any person born or naturalized in 
the United States. 


Thaddeus Stevens dies. Thaddeus Stevens, Radical Republican leader in Congress 
and father of Reconstruction, died on August 11.


Massacre in Louisiana. The Opelousas Massacre occurred in Louisiana on 
September 28, in which an estimated 200 to 300 black Americans were killed.


Ulysses S. Grant becomes president. Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) 
was elected president on November 3.


1869


Fifteenth Amendment approved. On February 26, Congress sent the Fifteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution to the states for approval. The amendment would 
guarantee black Americans the right to vote.


First black diplomat. On April 6, Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was appointed 
minister to Haiti -- the first black American diplomat and the first black American 
presidential appointment. For many years thereafter, both Democratic and Republican 
administrations appointed black Americans as ministers to Haiti and Liberia.


1870


Census of 1870. 
	U.S. population:  39,818,449 
	Black population:  4,880,009 (12.7%)


The first African-American senator. Hiram R. Revels (Republican) of Mississippi took 
his seat February 25. He was the first black United States senator, though he served 
only one year. 


Fifteenth Amendment ratified. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was 
ratified on March 30.


1871


The Fisk University Jubilee Singers tour. On October 6, Fisk University's Jubilee 
Singers began their first national tour. The Jubilee Singers became world-famous 
singers of black spirituals. The money they earned built Fisk University.


1875


Civil Rights Act of 1875. Congress approved the Civil Rights Act on March 1, 
guaranteeing equal rights to black Americans in public accommodations and jury 
duty. The legislation was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1883. 


The first African-American to serve a full term as senator. Blanche Kelso Bruce 
(Republican) of Mississippi took his seat in the United States Senate on March 3. 
He would become the first African-American to serve a full six-year term. Not until 
1969 did another black American begin a Senate term.


Birth of Mary McLeod Bethune. Mary McLeod Bethune, educator, government 
official, and African-American leader, was born on July 10 in Mayesville, South 
Carolina.


Clinton Massacre. On September 4-6, more than 20 black Americans were killed 
in a massacre in Clinton, Mississippi.


Birth of Carter Godwin Woodson. Carter G. Woodson, who earned a doctorate in 
history from Harvard and was known as "The Father of Black History," was born 
on December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Virginia.


1876


Race riots and terrorism. A summer of race riots and terrorism directed at blacks 
occurred in South Carolina. President Grant sent federal troops to restore order.


A close presidential election. In the presidential election of 1876, the outcome in 
the Electoral College appeared too close to be conclusive in the campaign of 
Samuel Tilden (Democrat) versus Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican).


1877


The end of Reconstruction. A deal with Southern Democratic leaders made 
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) president, in exchange for the withdrawal of 
federal troops from the South and the end of federal efforts to protect the civil rights 
of African-Americans.


The first African-American to graduate from West Point. On June 15, Henry O. 
Flipper became the first black American to graduate from West Point.


1880


Census of 1880. 
	U.S. population:  50,155,783
	Black population:  6,580,793 (13.1%)


James Garfield elected president. On November 2, James A. Garfield, Republican, 
was elected president.


1881


President Garfield assassinated. President Garfield was shot on July 2; he died on 
September 19. Vice President Chester A. Arthur (Republican) succeeded Garfield 
as president.


Tuskegee Institute founded. Booker T. Washington became the first principal of 
Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, on July 4. Tuskegee became the leading 
vocational training institution for African-Americans.


Segregation of public transportation. Tennessee segregated railroad cars, followed 
by Florida (1887), Mississippi (1888), Texas (1889), Louisiana (1890), Alabama, 
Kentucky, Arkansas, and Georgia (1891), South Carolina (1898), North Carolina 
(1899), Virginia (1900), Maryland (1904), and Oklahoma (1907).


1882


Lynchings. Forty-nine black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1882.


1883


Civil Rights Act overturned. On October 15, the Supreme Court declared the Civil 
Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. The Court declared that the Fourteenth 
Amendment forbids states, but not citizens, from discriminating.


Sojourner Truth dies. Sojourner Truth, a courageous and ardent abolitionist and a 
brilliant speaker, died on November 26.


A political coup and a race riot. On November 3, white conservatives in Danville, 
Virginia, seized control of the local government, racially integrated and popularly 
elected, killing four African-Americans in the process.


Lynchings. Fifty-three black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1883.


1884


Cleveland elected president. Grover Cleveland (Democrat) was elected president 
on November 4.


Lynchings. Fifty-one black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1884.


1885


A black Episcopal bishop. On June 25, African-American Samuel David Ferguson 
was ordained a bishop of the Episcopal church.


Lynchings. Seventy-four black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1885.


1886


The Carrollton Massacre. On March 17, 20 black Americans were massacred at 
Carrollton, Mississippi.


Labor organizes. The American Federation of Labor was organized on December 8, 
signaling the rise of the labor movement. All major unions of the day excluded black 
Americans.


Lynchings. Seventy-four black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1886.


1887


Lynchings. Seventy black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1887.


1888


Two of the first African-American banks. Two of America's first black-owned banks -- 
the Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of the Reformers, in Richmond 
Virginia, and Capital Savings Bank of Washington, DC, opened their doors.


Harrison elected president. Benjamin Harrison (Republican) was elected president on 
November 6.


Lynchings. Sixty-nine black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1888.


1889


Lynchings. Ninety-four black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1889.


1890


Census of 1890. 
	U.S. population:  62,947,714
	Black population:  7,488,676 (11.9%)


The Afro-American League. On January 25, under the leadership of Timothy Thomas 
Fortune, the militant National Afro-American League was founded in Chicago.


African-Americans are disenfranchised. The Mississippi Plan, approved on November 
1, used literacy and "understanding" tests to disenfranchise black American citizens. 
Similar statutes were adopted by South Carolina (1895), Louisiana (1898), North 
Carolina (1900), Alabama (1901), Virginia (1901), Georgia (1908), and Oklahoma (1910).


A white supremacist is elected. Populist "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman was elected governor 
of South Carolina. He called his election "a triumph of ... white supremacy."


Lynchings. Eighty-five black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1890.


1891


Lynchings. One hundred and thirteen black Americans are known to have been lynched 
in 1891.


1892


Grover Cleveland elected president. Grover Cleveland (Democrat) was elected president 
on November 8.


Lynchings. One hundred and sixty-one black Americans are known to have been 
lynched in 1892.


1893


Lynchings. One hundred and eighteen black Americans are known to have been 
lynched in 1893.


1894


The Pullman strike. The Pullman Company strike caused a national transportation 
crisis. On May 11, African-Americans were hired by the company as strike-breakers.


Lynchings. One hundred and thirty-four black Americans are known to have been 
lynched in 1894.


1895


Douglass dies. African-American leader and statesman Frederick Douglass died 
on February 20.


A race riot. Whites attacked black workers in New Orleans on March 11-12. Six 
blacks were killed.


The Atlanta Compromise. Booker T. Washington delivered his famous "Atlanta 
Compromise" address on September 18 at the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition. 
He said the "Negro problem" would be solved by a policy of gradualism and 
accommodation.


The National Baptist Convention. Several Baptist organizations combined to form the 
National Baptist Convention of the U.S.A.; the Baptist church is the largest black 
religious denomination in the United States. 

Lynchings. One hundred and thirteen black Americans are known to have been 
lynched in 1895.


1896


Plessy v. Ferguson. The Supreme Court decided on May 18 in Plessy v. Ferguson that 
"separate but equal" facilities satisfy Fourteenth Amendment guarantees, thus giving 
legal sanction to Jim Crow segregation laws. 


Black women organize. The National Association of Colored Women was formed on July 
21; Mary Church Terrell was chosen president.


McKinley elected president. On November 3, William McKinley (Republican) was elected 
president.


George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was appointed director of 
agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute. His work advanced peanut, sweet potato, 
and soybean farming.


Lynchings. Seventy-eight black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1896.


1897


American Negro Academy. The American Negro Academy was established on March 
5 to encourage African-American participation in art, literature and philosophy.


Lynchings. One hundred and twenty-three black Americans are known to have been 
lynched in 1897.


1898


The Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War began on April 21. Sixteen 
regiments of black volunteers were recruited; four saw combat. Five black Americans 
won Congressional Medals of Honor.


The National Afro-American Council. Founded on September 15, the National 
Afro-American Council elected Bishop Alexander Walters its first president.


A race riot. On November 10, in Wilmington, North Carolina, eight black Americans 
were killed during white rioting.


Black-owned insurance companies. The North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance 
Company and the National Benefit Life Insurance Company of Washington, DC were 
established. Both companies were black-owned.


Lynchings. One hundred and one black Americans are known to have been lynched
in 1898.


1899


A lynching protest. The Afro-American Council designated June 4 as a national day of 
fasting to protest lynchings and massacres.


Lynchings. Eighty-five black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1899.


1900


Census of 1900. 
	U.S. population:  75,994,575
	Black population:  8,833,994 (11.6%)


Lynchings. One hundred and six black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1900.


A World's Fair. The Paris Exposition was held, and the United States pavilion housed 
an exhibition on black Americans. The "Exposition des Negres d'Amerique" won several 
awards for excellence. Daniel A. P. Murray's collection of works by and about black 
Americans was developed for this exhibition.

1901


The last African-American congressman for 28 years. George H. White gave up his seat 
on March 4. No African-American would serve in Congress for the next 28 years.


President McKinley assassinated. President McKinley died of an assassin's bullet on 
September 14, a week after being shot in Buffalo, New York. Vice President Theodore 
Roosevelt succeeded him as president.


Washington dines at the White House. On October 16, after an afternoon meeting at 
the White House with Booker T. Washington, President Theodore Roosevelt informally 
invited Washington to remain and eat dinner with him, making Washington the first 
black American to dine at the White House with the president. A furor arose over the 
social implications of Roosevelt's casual act.


Lynchings. One hundred and five black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1901.


1902


Lynchings. Eighty-five black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1902.


1903


The Souls of Black Folk. W. E. B. Du Bois's celebrated book, The Souls of Black Folk, 
was published on April 27. In it, Du Bois rejected the gradualism of Booker T. Washington, 
calling for agitation on behalf of African-American rights. 


Lynchings.Eighty-four black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1903.


1904


College founded. Educator Mary McCleod Bethune founds a college in Daytona Beach, 
Florida, known today as Bethune-Cookman College. 

Lynchings. Seventy-six black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1904.


1905


The Niagara Movement. On July 11-13, African-American intellectuals and activists, led 
by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter, began the Niagara Movement.


Lynchings. Fifty-seven black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1905.


1906


Soldiers riot. In Brownsville, Texas on August 13, black troops rioted against segregation. 
On November 6, President Theodore Roosevelt discharged three companies of black 
soldiers involved in the riot.


A race riot. On September 22-24, in a race riot in Atlanta, ten blacks and two whites 
were killed.


Lynchings. Sixty-two black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1906.


1908


Thurgood Marshall born. Born in Baltimore on July 2, Thurgood Marshall, was the attorney 
for the NAACP in the famous case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), in which the 
Supreme Court found segregated schools to be inherently unequal. He later became the 
first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court.


A race riot. Many were killed and wounded in a race riot on August 14-19, in Abraham 
Lincoln's home town of Springfield, Illinois.


Taft elected president. On November 3, William Howard Taft (Republican) was elected 
president.


Lynchings. Eighty-nine black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1908.


1909


The NAACP is formed. On February 12 -- the centennial of the birth of Lincoln -- a 
national appeal led to the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement 
of Colored People, an organization formed to promote use of the courts to restore the legal 
rights of black Americans.


The North Pole is reached. On April 6, Admiral Peary and African-American Matthew 
Henson, accompanied by four Eskimos, became the first men known to have reached 
the North Pole.


Lynchings. Sixty-nine black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1909.


1910


Census of 1910. 
	U.S. population:  93,402,151
	Black population:  9,827,763 (10.7%)


Crisis debuts. The first issue of Crisis, a publication sponsored by the NAACP and 
edited by W. E.B. Du Bois, appeared on November 1.


Segregated neighborhoods. On December 19, the City Council of Baltimore approved 
the first city ordinance designating the boundaries of black and white neighborhoods. 
This ordinance was followed by similar ones in Dallas, Texas, Greensboro, North 
Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky, Norfolk, Virginia, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Richmond, 
Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia, and St. Louis, Missouri. The Supreme Court declared the 
Louisville ordinance to be unconstitutional in 1917.


Lynchings. Sixty-seven black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1910.


1911


The National Urban League begins. In October, the National Urban League was organized 
to help African-Americans secure equal employment. Professor Kelly Miller was a 
founding member.


Lynchings. Sixty black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1911.


1912


Wilson elected president. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) was elected president on
November 5.


Lynchings. Sixty-one black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1912.


1913


Jubilee year. The fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation was celebrated 
throughout the year.


Harriet Tubman dies. Harriet Tubman -- former slave, abolitionist, and freedom fighter -- 
died on March 10.


Federal segregation. On April 11, the Wilson administration began government-wide 
segregation of work places, rest rooms and lunch rooms. 


Lynchings. Fifty-one black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1913.


1914


Lynchings. Fifty-one black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1914.


World War I. World War I began in Europe. 


1915


Booker T. Washington dies. Renowned African-American spokesman Booker T. 
Washington died on November 14.


Lynchings. Fifty-six black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1915.


1916


Lynchings. Fifty black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1916.


1917


World War I. America entered World War I on April 6. 370,000 African-Americans 
were in military service -- more than half in the French war zone.


A race riot. One of the bloodiest race riots in the nation's history took place in East 
St. Louis, Illinois, on July 1-3. A Congressional committee reported that 40 to 200 
people were killed, hundreds more injured, and 6,000 driven from their homes.


NAACP protest. Thousands of African-Americans marched down Manhattan's Fifth 
Avenue on July 28, protesting lynchings, race riots, and the denial of rights.


A race riot. On August 23, a riot erupted in Houston between black soldiers and white 
citizens; 2 blacks and 11 whites were killed. 18 black soldiers were hanged for 
participation in the riot.


The Supreme Court acts. On November 5, the Supreme Court struck down the 
Louisville, Kentucky ordinance mandating segregated neighborhoods.


Lynchings. Thirty-six black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1917.


1918


A race riot. On July 25-28, a race riot occurred in Chester, Pennsylvania. 3 blacks 
and 2 whites were killed.


A race riot. On July 26-29, a race riot occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 3 
blacks and 1 white were killed.


World War I ends. The Armistice took effect on November 11, ending World War I. 
The northern migration of African-Americans began in earnest during the war. By 
1930 there were 1,035,000 more black Americans in the North, and 1,143,000 fewer 
black Americans in the South than in 1910.


Lynchings. Sixty black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1918.


1919


"Red Summer." This was the year of the "Red Summer," with 26 race riots between the 
months of April and October. These included disturbances in the following areas:

	May 10         		Charleston, South Carolina.
	July 13        		Gregg and Longview counties, Texas.
	July 19-23		Washington, D. C.
	July 27			Chicago.
	October 1-3    		Elaine, Arkansas.


Lynchings. Seventy-six black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1919.


1920

Census of 1920. 

	U.S. population:  105,710,620
	Black population:  10,463,131 (9.9%)


The Harlem Renaissance. The decade of the Twenties witnessed the Harlem 
Renaissance, a remarkable period of creativity for black writers, poets, and artists,
including these authors:
	Claude McKay,	Harlem Shadows, 1922
	Jean Toomer,	Cane, 1923
	Alaine Locke,	The New Negro, 1925
	Countee Cullen,	Color, 1925



The rise of Marcus Garvey. On August 1, Marcus Garvey's Universal Improvement 
Association held its national convention in Harlem, the traditionally black 
neighborhood in New York City. Garvey's African nationalist movement was the 
first black American mass movement, and at its height it claimed hundreds of 
thousands of supporters. 


Harding elected president. On November 3, Warren G. Harding (Republican) was 
elected president.


Lynchings. Fifty-three black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1920.


1921


A race riot. On May 31-June 1, in a race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 21 whites and 60 
blacks were killed. The violence destroyed a thriving African American neighborhood 
and business district.


Lynchings. Fifty-nine black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1921.


1922


An anti-lynching effort. On January 26, a federal anti-lynching bill was killed by a 
filibuster in the United States Senate.


Lynchings. Fifty-one black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1922.


1923


President Harding dies. President Warren Harding died on August 3; Vice President 
Calvin Coolidge succeeded him as president.


Lynchings. Twenty-nine black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1923.


1924


Lynchings. Sixteen black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1924.


1925


Malcolm X born. On May 19, in Omaha, Nebraska, civil rights leader Malcolm X was 
born.


Sleeping car porters organize. On August 25, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters 
was organized. A. Philip Randolph was chosen president. 

Lynchings. Seventeen black Americans are known to have been lynched in 1925. 


Daniel A. P. Murray dies. Assistant Librarian of Congress and African-American historian 
Daniel A. P. Murray died in Washington, DC, on March 31.

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