Our History Remembered
November 16, 1967
'The Cosby Show' alum, actress Lisa Bonet, was born in San Francisco. After leaving 'Cosby' she enjoyed a run as the star of her own show, 'A Different World.' During the '90s, this quirky actress legally changed her name to Liliquois Moon.
Jeff Kravitz, FilmMagic
November 16, 2001
Nigerian Agbani Darego became the first black African woman to win the coveted Miss World beauty pageant title.
Yoav Lemmer, AFP / Getty Images
Circa, November 17, 1834
Nancy Green, the corporate model behind the Aunt Jemima logo, was born a slave in Montgomery County, Kentucky. From 1893-1923, Nancy Green gave live cooking demonstrations across America as "Aunt Jemima" that drew crowds requiring police control, thus building the pancake brand into a national sensation.
AP
November 16, 2004
Condoleezza Rice became the first black woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. Rice served under the administration of President George W. Bush.
Soul Brother, FilmMagic
November 20, 1866
The nation's largest predominantly black college, Howard University, was founded. As the foremost producer of African-American PhDs in the country, Howard University is often called the "Black Harvard."
Morgan Riehl, AOL
November 19, 1973
Actor, tap dancer and choreographer Savion Glover was born in Newark, New Jersey. Glover has worked on screen and stage with creative giants such as Spike Lee and George C. Wolfe. His dancing was also motion-captured for the recent animated flick 'Happy Feet' (2006).
Brad Barket, Getty Images
November 16, 1930
African author and educator Chinua Achebe was born in Ogidi, Nigeria. Achebe's first novel, 'Things Fall Apart' (1959), is the most widely read and highly esteemed piece of literature by an African writer.
Craig Ruttle, AP
Circa, November 17, 1723
African-American trader and laborer Crispus Attucks was born a slave in Massachusetts, but escaped from slavery as an adult. Attucks was the first person to die in the American Revolution, and the first to die for this country's freedom.
Archive Photos, Getty Images
November 15, 1950
Arthur Dorrington became the first black American to be signed to a professional hockey team, the Atlantic City Seagulls.
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Carter G. Woodson was a coal miner and child of former slaves with enthusiasm for the historical documentation of the African-American experience. He decided as a young man that our stories needed to be recognized. After earning a Ph.D. from Harvard University in history, Carter became a Howard University professor. He then co-founded and financed the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915, with the lofty goal of having it both publish and fund research and writing projects about black history. After resigning as a professor, Woodson dedicated all of his time to the association, as well as to publishing books and resources about the black experience. One notable quarterly he edited was The Journal of Negro History, which was distributed worldwide.
In 1926, Woodson established Negro History Week, as it was called by the black fraternity Omega Psi Phi, to celebrate the achievements of Afrian-Americans. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Through Woodson's promotion of the celebration in The Journal of Negro History, and by creating and distributing educational kits for children, Negro History Week gained in popularity. In 1976, it evolved into Black History Month.
Learn more about the past and current activities of Woodson's organization, now called the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History.
Source: Henry Louis Gates & Cornel West, 'The African American Century' (Touchstone 2002)
Notable Quotes
AP
- Oprah
"A person can change his future by merely changing his attitude."
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- Philip Emeagwali
"If ideas are capital, why is Africa investing more on the military than on education?"
AP
- John H. Johnson
"Make small goals ... accomplish them, it gives you the confidence to go on to higher goals."
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- Cathy Hughes
"I think the war is terrible, and I think President Bush lied. Outright lied."
Top Black History Discussions
Black Icons, Unscripted
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
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