People, Locations, Episodes

Cuba’s Ten Years’ War Begins

*On this date in 1868, Cuba’s Ten Years’ War began. Also known as the Great War (Guerra Grande) and the War of ’68, it was part of Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain. Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives led the uprising. Sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence and […]

The First Black Man is Elected to Congress in America

On this date in 1868, the first Black man was elected to the U.S. Congress

John Willis Menard defeated a White candidate, 5,107 to 2,833, in an election in Louisiana’s Second Congressional District to fill an unexpired term in the Fortieth Congress.

William Lewis, Athlete, and Scholar born

On this date, we remember, the birth of William H. Lewis, born in 1868. He was an African American lawyer and football player.

Born to former slaves in Berkley, Virginia, William Henry Lewis worked to pay for his education at Virginia Normal Institute (now Virginia State University). He later attended Amherst College in Massachusetts. Excelling as an orator and athlete, Lewis was one of the first Black men to play collegiate football, serving as team captain in 1890 and 1891. He met his future wife (Elizabeth Baker) at his graduation.

Fort Sill (Oklahoma) is Built

*The site of Fort Sill was founded on this date in 1869.  Located in Lawton, Oklahoma, this was a strategic post-American Civil War location that leveraged the use of Black soldiers against Native Americans to expand the white government’s land acquisition in the West.  Maj founded Fort Still. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan led a white-American […]

Minnie Cox, Teacher, and Administrator born

*The birth of Minnie Cox in 1869 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American teacher, and postal administrator.

Sylvester Williams, Pan-African Politician born

*Sylvester Williams was born on this date in 1869. He was a Black activist, lawyer, and politician.

One of five children, he was born in Trinidad. His father was a wheelwright who had originally come from Barbados. A talented student young Williams qualified as a schoolteacher in 1886 and became a principal two years later. He was interested in politics and in 1890 helped establish the Trinidad Elementary Teachers Union. One year later, Williams moved to New York where he worked as shoe-shiner. Later he studied law at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia but left before graduating.

John L. Thompson, Lawyer born

The birth of John Lay Thompson in 1869 is marked on this date. He was an African American businessman and lawyer.

Thompson was a native of Iowa’s Decatur County, and a graduate of the Iowa Business College in 1896 and Drake University’s law school in 1898. He secured political positions considered especially prestigious for African Americans in an age of tokenism and unchecked discrimination. A Republican, Thompson was appointed file clerk for the Iowa Senate in 1894 and file clerk for the Iowa General Assembly in 1896.

William T. Francis, Minnesota Lawyer born

On his date, we mark the birth of William T. Francis in 1869. He was an African American politician and lawyer.

Francis was born in Indiana and went to Minnesota at an early age. After completing his education, he served in the legal department of Northern Pacific Railroad. Francis opened his own law firm in St. Paul before World War II.

In 1920, he was president-elector at the Republican State Convention. Francis and his wife were instrumental in getting an anti-lynching law passed in the Minnesota State Senate in the 1920s.

The 15th Amendment is Ratified

*On this date in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. This guaranteed African American men the right to vote.

The 15th Amendment maintains “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by a State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The text also gives Congress the power to enforce the amendment.

Voter Suppression in America, an article

*On this date in 1870, Voter Suppression in the United States is addressed. Voter Suppression concerns various legal and illegal efforts to prevent eligible voters from exercising their right to vote. Where found, such voter suppression efforts vary by state, local government, precinct, and election. Separately, there have also been various efforts to enfranchise and […]

Louis B. Anderson, Lawyer born

*Louis B. Anderson was born on this date in 1870.  He was a Black journalist and politician who served as alderman of Chicago’s 2nd ward from 1917 to 1933. Born in Petersburg, Virginia, Louis Bernard Anderson moved to Washington, D.C., in 1889 to work in journalism as an exchange reader and journalist. At some point, […]

The Enforcement Act of 1870 is Passed

*On this date, the Enforcement Act of 1870 was passed.   It is also known as the Civil Rights Act, First Ku Klux Klan Act, or Force Act. It was an American federal law written to empower the President with the legal authority to enforce the first section of the Fifteenth Amendment throughout the United States. The act was the first of three Enforcement Acts passed by the United States Congress from 1870 to […]

Henry Lincoln Johnson, Lawyer, and Politician born

*Henry Lincoln Johnson was born on this date in 1870.  He was a Black lawyer and politician. From Augusta, Georgia, he was the son of former slaves Martha Ann and Peter Johnson.  Known to family and friends as “Linc,” he attended Clark Atlanta University and graduated in 1888.  Johnson obtained a law degree in 1892 from the University […]

The Black and Tan, and Lily-White (Political Factions), a story

*On this date, 1870, We remember the Black-and-Tan and the Lily-White political factions.  They were political coalitions in the American Republican Party in the South from the 1870s to the 1960s. Southern Republicans were divided into two groups: The Lily-white faction, which was practically all-white, and the biracial black-and-tan faction, which replaced the Negro Republican Party faction’s name after Reconstruction in the 1890s.  The lily-white […]

The Black Seminole Scouts are Formed

*On this date in 1870, Black Seminole Scouts are remembered.  Also known as the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts or Seminole Scouts, they were commissioned by the United States Army. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some Native Seminoles. However, because most of the Seminole scouts were of African descent, they were often attached to the Buffalo Soldier regiments to guide the troops through […]