People, Locations, Episodes

The Chanteys, Work Songs with African Roots

This date’s Registry looks at the origins of the Chanteys in 1882. A Chantey is a style of choral singing associated with black slave labor in the early United States.

America’s First Shoe Lasting Machine is Patented

*On this date in 1883, a Black inventor patented the first shoe lasting machine.

Jan Matzeliger from Dutch Guiana revolutionized the shoe industry with his invention, patent #274,207.

Hartshorn Memorial College Opens

*The opening of Hartshorn Memorial College occurred on this date in 1883.  One of over 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in America, this school started classes in Richmond, Virginia, until 1932, when it merged into Virginia Union University.   Hartshorn Memorial College was created as a college for the education of African American women.  The college’s namesake, Joseph C. Hartshorn, donated […]

Dvorak’s Performance of ‘From The New World’ Debuts

*On this date in 1893, the renowned white-Czech composer Antonín Dvořák debuted the performance of his most famous symphony, This classic recognized the significance of American Negro spirituals and their contributions to the culture of the United States.  Dvořák came to America at the invitation of music patron and entrepreneur Jeanette Meyers Thurber in 1892. […]

The Berlin Conference Convenes

*On this date in 1884, The Berlin Conference convened.  It marked the high point of white European competition for African territory, commonly known as the Scramble for Africa. After America’s Emancipation from African slavery and its Reconstruction era came a period of white-European dissonance.  During the 1870s and early 1880s, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, […]

The First Black Bishop in America is Consecrated

On this date in 1885, Samuel David Ferguson was consecrated as bishop (Saint John the Baptist’s Feast Day), at Grace Church, New York, becoming the first Black member of the House of Bishopsin the Episcopal Church.

He was born in 1842 in Charleston, S.C., and immigrated with his family to Liberia in 1848. As Missionary Bishop of Liberia, he founded what is now Cuttington University College and established the Bromley Mission School. He served until his death in Monrovia on August 2, 1916.

Slavery is Abolished in Cuba

*On this date, in 1886, slavery was abolished in Cuba.  Slavery in Cuba was associated with labor demand to support the sugar cane plantations. It existed on the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by royal decree. The first organized slavery in Cuba was introduced by Spanish colonialists who attacked […]

The Dawes Act is Passed

*On this date, in 1887, The Dawes Act was passed.   Named after white-American Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it is also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act.   The intersectionality between African Americans and Native Americans was affected by this legal episode.  It authorized the President of the United States to subdivide Native American tribal landholdings into allotments for Native American heads of […]

Brazil Abolishes Slavery

On this date in 1888, Brazil abolished slavery.

Wysinger v. Crookshank is Filed

*On this date, in 1889, Wysinger v. Crookshank was filed.  This was the first case that rendered school segregation of blacks in California contrary to the law. On October 1, 1888, 58-year-old Edmond Wysinger, a former black slave who bought his freedom working in the California mines, moved to Visalia, California. When he attempted to […]

Samuel Green, Segregationist and Obstetrician born.

*Samuel Green was born on this date in 1889.  He was a white-American obstetrician and segregationist.  Green was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1922.  By the early 1930s, Green had become the Grand Dragon of Georgia.  Starting from the late 1920s, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan had a problem with declining membership. In 1939, Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley […]

San Juan Hill (New York City), a story

*On this date in 1880, San Juan Hill is celebrated on the Registry.  This was an African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Puerto Rican community in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the largest Black communities in New York City before World War I.  59th Street bound San Juan Hill to the south, West End Avenue to the west, 65th Street to the north, and Amsterdam […]

The First Black Man Becomes Boxing Champ in America

*On this in 1890, George “Little Chocolate” Dixon knocked out Cal McCarthy.

Dixon became the first Black world champion in boxing and the first Black man to hold an American title in any sport.

The “Mississippi Plan” Begins

*On this date in 1890, The Mississippi Constitutional Convention began systematic exclusion of Blacks from the politics of South.

The Mississippi Plan (Literacy and “understanding tests”) lasted until November 1st of that year and was later adopted with embellishments by other states: South Carolina (1895), Louisiana (1898), North Carolina (1900), Alabama (1901), Virginia (1901), Georgia (1908), and Oklahoma (1910). Southern states later used “White primaries” and other devices to exclude Black voters.

The Red Cap Pullman Porters, a story

*The Red Cap Porter profession is marked on this date in 1890.  This is a profession associated with post-Reconstruction African American heritage.  It was a practice of railroad station porters to wear red-colored caps to distinguish them from blue-capped train personnel with other duties.   The first Red Cap began by a black porter on Labor Day 1890 to […]