May Black History Calendar
- May 1, 1867
First four students enter Howard University.
Search Library of Congress - May 2, 1920
Indianapolis ABCs defeat Chicago Giants in first Negro National League Game .
Search Library of Congress - May 3, 1964
Frederick O’Neal becomes first Black president of the Actor’s Equity Association.
Search Library of Congress - May 4, 1961
“ Freedom Riders ” begin protesting segregation of interstate bus travel in the South.
Search Library of Congress - May 5, 1988
Eugene Marino becomes first African American installed as a Roman Catholic archbishop in the U.S.
Search Library of Congress - May 6, 1991
The Smithsonian Institution approves the creation of the National African American Museum.
Search Library of Congress - May 7, 1878
Joseph R. Winters patents first fire escape ladder.
Search Library of Congress - May 8, 1983
Lena Horne awarded the Springarm Medal for distinguished career in the field of entertainment.
Search Library of Congress - May 9, 1899
John Albert Burr patents lawn.
Search Library of Congress - May 10, 1950
Boston Celtics select Chuck Cooper first Black player drafted to play in the NBA.
Search Library of Congress - May 11, 1895
Composer William Grant Still , the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, born.
Search Library of Congress - May 12, 1820
The New York African Free School population reaches 500.
Search Library of Congress - May 13, 1872
Matilda Arabella Evans, first African American woman to practice medicine in South Carolina, born.
Search Library of Congress - May 14, 1888
Slavery abolished in Brazil.
Search Library of Congress - May 15, 1820
U.S. Congress declares foreign slave trade an act of piracy, punishable by death.
Search Library of Congress - May 16, 1927
William Harry Barnes becomes first African American certified by any American surgical board.
Search Library of Congress - May 17, 1954
U.S. Supreme Court declares segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Search Library of Congress - May 18, 1896
Plessy vs. Ferguson , Supreme Court upholds the doctrine of “separate but equal” education and public accommodations.
Search Library of Congress - May 19, 1925
Malcolm X born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb.
Search Library of Congress - May 20, 1961
U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy dispatches U.S. Marshals to Montgomery, Ala., to restore order in the “Freedom Rider” disturbance.
Search Library of Congress - May 21, 1833
African Americans enroll for the first time at Oberlin College, Ohio.
Search Library of Congress - May 22, 1921
Shuffle Along , a musical featuring a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, opens on Broadway.
Search Library of Congress - May 23, 1900
Sgt. William H. Carney becomes the first African American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor at Fort Wagner, S.C., 1863.
Search Library of Congress - May 24, 1854
Lincoln University (Pa.), the first black college, is founded.
Search Library of Congress - May 25, 1926
Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis born.
Search Library of Congress - May 26, 1961
Marvin Cook named ambassador to Niger Republic; first Black envoy named by Kennedy Administration to an African nation.
Search Library of Congress - May 27, 1919
Madame C.J. Walker , cosmetics manufacturer and first Black female millionaire, died.
Search Library of Congress - May 28, 1948
National Party wins Whites-only election in South Africa and begins to institute policy of apartheid.
Search Library of Congress - May 29, 1901
Granville T. Woods patents overhead conducting system for the electric railway. May 30 1965 – Vivian Malone becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama.
Search Library of Congress - May 31, 1870
Congress passes the first Enforcement Act, providing stiff penalties for those who deprive others of their civil rights.
Search Library of Congress