November Black History Calendar
- Nov 1, 1991
Judge Clarence Thomas is formally seated at the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 2, 1954
Charles C. Diggs elected Michigan’s first African American congressman.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 3, 1981
Thirman L. Milner elected mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, becoming first Black mayor in New England.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 4, 1879
Thomas Elkins patents refrigeration apparatus.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 5, 1968
Shirley Chisolm of Brooklyn, N.Y., becomes the first African American woman elected to Congress.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 6, 1901
James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, widely regarded as the Black national anthem.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 7, 1989
L. Douglas Wilder is elected governor of Virginia,, becoming the nation’s first Black governor since the Reconstruction.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 8, 1938
Crystal Bird Faucet is elected state representative in Pennsylvania, becoming the first Black woman to serve in a state legislature.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 9, 1731
Mathematician, urban planner and inventor Benjamin Banneker born.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 10, 1983
Wilson Goode elected, becoming Philadelphia’s first African American mayor.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 11, 1989
Civil Rights Memorial is dedicated in Montgomery, Ala.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 12, 1941
Madame Lillian Evanto founds the National Negro Opera Company.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 13, 1894
Albert C. Richardson patents casket-lowering device.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 14, 1915
Booker T. Washington , educator and writer, died.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 15, 1881
Payton Johnson patents swinging chair.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 16, 1981
Pam Johnson named publisher of the Ithaca (NY) Journal, becoming the first African American woman to head a daily newspaper.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 17, 1980
WHHM, the first African American-operated radio station, goes on the air at Howard University.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 18, 1787
Abolitionist and women’s right activist Sojourner Truth born.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 19, 1953
Roy Campanella named Most Valuable Player in National League Baseball for the second time..
Search Library of Congress - Nov 20, 1865
Howard Seminary (later Howard University) founded in Washington, D.C.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 21, 1893
Granville T. Woods patents electric railway conduit.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 22, 1930
Elijah Muhammed establishes the Nation of Islam.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 23, 1897
A.J. Beard patents the “Jenny Coupler”, still in use today to connect railroad cars. John L. Love patents pencil sharpener.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 24, 1868
Pianist Scott Joplin , the “Father of Ragtime”, born.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 25, 1975
Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 26, 1970
Charles Gordone becomes the first Black playwright to receive the Pulitzer Prize (for No Place to Be Somebody).
Search Library of Congress - Nov 27, 1990
Charles Johnson awarded National Book Award for fiction for Middle Passage.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 28, 1960
Novelist Richard Wright dies.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 29, 1908
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall born.
Search Library of Congress - Nov 30, 1897
J.A. Sweeting patents cigarette-rolling device.
Search Library of Congress