Black - African American History Facts

Prince Hall, Masonic leader and activist, died in Boston, MA, on this date in 1807.

The American Antislavery Society was formed in Philadelphia, PA, by abolitionists on this date in 1833.

A new constitution with an "understanding clause" designed to eliminate black voters was adopted by the South Carolina Constitutional Convention on this date in 1895.

Alpha Phi Alpha, the first black Greek-Letter Fraternity, was founded at Cornell University on this date in 1906.

James H. Anderson founded the Amsterdam News in New York on this date in 1909.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, legendary composer and bandleader, opened at the Cotton Club in Harlem, NY, on this date in 1927.

Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and member Mark Clark, were killed by Chicago police on this date in 1969. Civil rights activists contended that they were killed while they slept.

Robert Goodman, a black Lieutenant who served as a bombardier-navigator on a Navy plane, was shot down over Damascus, Syria, and held prisoner on this date in 1983. The Rev. Jesse Jackson secured Goodman's release one-month later.