Black - African American History Facts

The Fifteenth Amendment, giving blacks the right to vote, was ratified on this date in 1870.

Blanche Kelso Bruce (Mississippi) was elected to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate on this date in 1874.

Autherine Juanita Lucy became the first black student at the University of Alabama on this date in 1956.

The Air Force Academy discontinued its ban on considering the applications of persons with the sickle-cell trait on this date in 1981. Many people felt the ban had stigmatized blacks.