People, Locations, Episodes

A Race Riot in Elaine, Arkansas Occurs

*On this date in 1919 a Race Riot broke out in Elaine, Arkansas in Phillips County between Blacks and whites.

At the time many African American sharecroppers had not received their share of wages and they wanted to join the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America. Also, the early years of the twentieth century were the time of “Red Summers,” violent years after reconstruction.

The First Black Eagle Scout in America

On this date in 1919, the first African American became an Eagle Scout in America.

Hamilton Bradley of New York became the earliest known Black Eagle Scout in BSA history.

Recy Taylor, Activist born

*Recy Taylor was born on this date in 1919.  She was a Black activist for racial justice and women’s rights and a defendant in a high-profile rape case. From Abbeville in Henry County, Alabama, Taylor was one of four siblings, a brother and two sisters.  On September 3, 1944, Taylor was walking home from Rock Hill Holiness Church in Abbeville […]

Three Black Men Are Hanged in Duluth, Minnesota, (the image may not be suitable for young children to see)

On this date in 1920, three Black men were hanged in Duluth, Minnesota. One of the worst racial incidents of the last century went unresolved because lynching was not abolished until 1924.

W.E.B. Du Bois Receives The Spingarn Medal

On this date in 1920, W. E. B. Du Bois was awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal. With an overpacked audience at Bethel Church in Atlanta, GA, Du Bois became the 5th recipient of the annual honor through the NAACP.

This was the first time the organization had held its convention in a southern city. At the time, he was the editor of the Crisis magazine, yet he was given the award mainly for his work in organizing the Pan-African Congress in Paris, France.

Byron De La Beckwith, Klansman born

*On this date in 1920, Byron De La Beckwith Jr. was born. He was a white-American white supremacist and a member of the Ku Klux Klan.  De La Beckwith was born in Colusa, California, the son of Susan Southworth Yerger and Byron De La Beckwith Sr., the town’s postmaster.   His father died of pneumonia when he was 5.  One year later, he […]

Central Avenue (Los Angeles) a story

*Central Avenue in Los Angeles is celebrated on this date in 1920. This street is a major north-south thoroughfare in the central portion of Los Angeles, California. From 1920 to 1955, Central Avenue was the heart of the Black community in Los Angeles, with active rhythm and blues and jazz music scenes. Located just to the west […]

The Musical ‘Shuffle Along’ Debuts on Broadway

On this date in 1921, “Shuffle Along” became one of the earliest African American Broadway Musicals. The show was an all-Black musical comedy by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle.

“Shuffle Along” was written, produced, directed, and performed by Blacks. This musical comedy was tried out in Harlem; Washington, DC; New Jersey; and Philadelphia before it opened in New York and set the pattern for Black musicals for many years after its premiere. “Shuffle Along” gave us such hit songs as: “Shuffle Along,” “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” “Gypsy Blues,” and “Love Will Find A Way.”

The Bulhoek Massacre Occurs

*On this date, in 1921, the Bulhoek massacre occurred. This episode involved a white South African police force that killed 163 Xhosa civilians. The killings happened in the village of Ntabelanga in the Cape Province (today part of Eastern Cape). After a dispute over land in Ntabelanga, an 800-strong police force from the Union of South Africa […]

The Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma Occurs

On this date in 1921, 300 people died in the Tulsa Race riots, most of them Black, at the hands of a White mob.

One of the worst race riots in U.S. history, it lasted two days. Hundreds of people were injured, and more than 1000 Black-owned homes and businesses were destroyed. On the 75th anniversary of the riot, the city extended a spirit of reconciliation by the dedication of a Black granite memorial in Greenwood, the neighborhood most affected by the conflict.

The Nova Scotia Home For Colored Children Opens

*On this date in 1921, the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children was formed. This facility is part of Black history in Canada. The home opened in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to accept Black children in need of care who were not permitted in white institutions at the time. A crowd of 3000 spectators, the largest gathering […]

Lockard v. Evans Filed in Tulsa, Oklahoma

*On this date in 1921, Lockard v. Evans, et al., was filed in Tulsa County District Court, Oklahoma. This was legal action from a group of African American’s against the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma to rebuild their neighborhoods destroyed by the Tulsa Race Riots earlier that summer.

The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill is Introduced

*On this date in 1922, the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was introduced.   First introduced in 1918 by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States House of Representatives as H.R. 11279. It was intended to establish lynching as a federal crime. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Still, […]

Barney Hill, UFO Witness born

Barney Hill was born on this date in 1922. He was an African American man who, with his wife, were the first persons reportedly abducted by a UFO.

Hill was born in Newport News, VA, the youngest of four children whose father was a shipyard worker. After the family moved to Philadelphia, Hill graduated from high school, attended Temple University, and enlisted in the Army. He was employed as a postal worker. He married Ruby Horn and they had two children. He later divorced and was remarried, to Betty Hill, white woman. The Hills moved to her hometown of Portsmouth, N.H..

The Frederick Douglass House Becomes a National Memorial

*On this date in 1922, the home of Frederick Douglass in Washington D.C. was dedicated as a national memorial.