September Black History Calendar

September 1, 1891 – Halle T.D. Johnson becomes first woman of any race to practice medicine in Alabama.

September 2, 1958 – Frederick M. Jones patents control device for internal combustion engine.

September 3, 1979 – Robert Maynard editor-publisher of the Oakland (California) Tribune, becoming the first African American to head a daily newspaper.

September 4, 1962 – New Orleans Catholic schools integrated.

September 5, 1960 – Leopold Sedar Senghor elected president of Senegal.

September 6, 1848 – Frederick Douglass elected president of National Black Political Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

September 7, 1954 – Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Md., public schools integrated.

September 8, 1907 – Negro Leagues baseball star Buck Leonard born.

September 9, 1968 – Arthur Ashe Jr. wins the first U.S. Open Tennis Championship.

September 10, 1855 – John Mercer Langston elected township clerk of Brownhelm, Ohio, becoming first black to hold elective office in the U.S.

September 11, 1959 – Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington wins Springarm Medal for his achievements in music.

September 12, 1992 – Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first African American woman to travel in space.

September 13, 1886 – Literary critic Alain Locke, first African American Rhodes Scholar, born.

September 14, 1921 – Constance Baker Motley, first African American appointed federal judge, born.

September 15, 1963 – Four African American girls killed in Birmingham church bombing.

September 16, 1923 – First Catholic seminary for Black priests dedicated in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

September 17, 1983 – Vanessa Williams becomes first African American woman named Miss America.

September 18, 1895 – Booker T. Washington delivers famous Atlanta Exposition speech.

September 19, 1893 – Elbert R. Robinson patents electric highway trolley.

September 20, 1830 – First National Convention for Free Men agrees to boycott slave-produced goods.

September 21, 1815 – General Andrew Jackson honors courage of Black troops who fought in Battle of New Orleans.

September 22, 1862 – Emancipation Proclamation announced.

September 23, 1863 – Civil and women’s rights advocate Mary Church Terrell born.

September 24, 1957 – Federal troops enforce court-ordered integration as nine children integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.

September 25, 1974 – Barbara Hancock becomes first African American woman named a White House Fellow.

September 26, 1962 – Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson to win heavyweight boxing championship.

September 27, 1912 – W.C. Handy publishes “Memphis Blues”.

September 28, 1895 – National Baptist Convention organized.

September 29, 1910 – The National Urban League founded in New York City.

September 30, 1962 – Under the protection of federal marshals, James Meredith enrolls as the first African American student at University of Mississippi.