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Special Features: This Week in Black History
Friday, April 15, 2005; Page 7
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
The Washington Informer is launching “This Week in Black History” to serve as a daily remembrance of how far we have come as well as how far we have to go. In the spirit of understanding and progress, we remember.
April 14
The first abolition society in the U.S. is founded in Pennsylvania, 1775. It was named Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. The original members were Anthony Benezet and John Woolman. In February 1784, it was reorganized as the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage.
April 15
Ralph Ellison, dies, 1994. His first novel, The Invisible Man, which deals heavily with human identity, won the National Book Award in 1953. Ellison, who attended the Tuskegee Institute from 1933-1936, served as the Albert Schweitzer Professor of the Humanities at New York University for many years before his death. Throughout his career he lectured extensively on Black culture.
April 16
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, basketball star, born, 1947. Born Lew Alcindor, Jabbar enjoyed an amazing college career at UCLA from 1965-1969, winning National Player of the Year honors twice, winning three national championships under Coach John Wooden, and becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer. He would continue his career in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers, winning seven World Championship rings and being selected as one of the 50 greatest players of all-time. His 20-year career was filled with success.
April 17
Francis Williams, first Black American to graduate from college in the Western Hemisphere, publishes collection of Latin poems, 1758.
April 18
Alex Haley wins Pulitzer Prize for Roots, 1977. In Roots, Haley traces his ancestry back to Africa, covering seven American generations, beginning with his ancestor, Kunta Kinte. The book was adapted to television series, and sparked an interest in genealogy among African Americans. He also adapted The Autobiography of Malcolm X, in 1965, from many conversations he had with the civil rights leader. The book would sell over six million copies by 1977 in the US and many other countries.
April 19
Cheyney State College, one of the oldest Black colleges in the U.S., founded in its original form as a school for Black boys, 1837.
April 20
Mabel Mercer, popular singer, dies, 1984. A British cabaret singer, a style she heavily mastered, through stints with jazz bands in Paris, meeting individuals such as Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker. After spending her early adult years in Europe, she moved to Harlem, where she would spend most of her life. She appeared with musician Bobby Short in 1968, at the Town Hall in New York. Although not well-known, her music has its place in history.
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
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