January

Jan 1A Barrier Broken in the MudJan 2A New Voice at City HallJan 3Unbought, Unbossed, and in CongressJan 4A Statewide First in FloridaJan 5An Equal Chance in the Race of LifeJan 6The Constitution Must ProtectJan 7The Voice That Opened the MetJan 8They Marched Toward FreedomJan 9A School Opens, a Future WidensJan 10Technology for Fairer WorkplacesJan 11A Novel Carried Black Memory Into the CenterJan 12Freedom, Defined by the FreedJan 13The People Chose a New FirstJan 14Edward Carter Received Full Military HonorsJan 15Sisterhood as InfrastructureJan 16NASA Selected a New Generation of ExplorersJan 17Fifteen Patriots, Recovered by NameJan 18A Seat at the Cabinet TableJan 19Engineering Against the IceJan 20Black CCC Workers Established Camp Mount HamiltonJan 21Biddy Mason Won Freedom for Her FamilyJan 22Freedom Could Not Have Two LinesJan 23The Price of a Ballot FallsJan 24Culture as a Future-Making PowerJan 25Two Hours That Opened a ChannelJan 26The Call Became a RegimentJan 27History Is Necessary EquipmentJan 28Evidence in the SkyJan 29Admitted to the Nation’s Highest BarJan 30Building Power for the BallotJan 31The Amendment Cleared Congress

February

Feb 1Four Seats, a Wider MovementFeb 2One Hand, One Ingenious MechanismFeb 3The Vote Enters the ConstitutionFeb 4Resistance Was a Lifetime’s WorkFeb 5A New Voice Leads the ReviewFeb 6Five Assaults to Open a Way OutFeb 7The Ballot With Which to Save OurselvesFeb 8A Black Reporter Enters the RoomFeb 9Writing Black Women Into the CenterFeb 10The House Says Yes to Equal ProtectionFeb 11Freedom After 10,050 DaysFeb 12Organizing the Long FightFeb 13We Are the ShipFeb 14The School That Became Morehouse OpenedFeb 15Science Carried Across the NationFeb 16Stories Became DoorwaysFeb 17Excellence Changed the ScaleFeb 18Freedom Entered the Cradle of SecessionFeb 19A Global Voice Against the Color LineFeb 20Courage at Olustee Opened a Path to LeadershipFeb 21She Expanded Care and the Medical ProfessionFeb 22Basketball Takes FlightFeb 23He Turned Representation Into Governing PowerFeb 24Precision Became a Championship LanguageFeb 25A Seat That Changed the SenateFeb 26New Orleans Rhythm Changed Popular MusicFeb 27The African Burial Ground Became a National MonumentFeb 28Eight Grammys in One Historic Night

March

Mar 1Equal Access Became Federal LawMar 2A Fifteen-Year-Old Refused to MoveMar 3Freedom Gained an InstitutionMar 4He Designed Time and Air for SafetyMar 5Liberty’s First Fallen NameMar 6Equal Opportunity Required ActionMar 7Courage Crossed the BridgeMar 8Frazier Won the Fight of the CenturyMar 9The Court Recognized the Freedom They ClaimedMar 10She Trained Her Voice for FreedomMar 11She Put Black Dreams Center StageMar 12He Carried the Movement Into Public OfficeMar 13He Made Hip-Hop a Bridge Across WorldsMar 14He Heard How the Pieces Could Become OneMar 15He Made Inclusion AudibleMar 16They Built a Press to Speak for ThemselvesMar 17He Built Care Where Segregation Denied ItMar 18He Made Belonging Impossible to DenyMar 19She Used Laughter to Tell the TruthMar 20He Made the Camera Answer to CommunityMar 21They Returned and Finished the JourneyMar 22They Made Equal Passage the LawMar 23He Went Straight From High School to HistoryMar 24She Put Women at the Center of FreedomMar 25She Made Respect Sound Like a RightMar 26He Designed a System to Fight Fire EverywhereMar 27He Redefined What a Quarterback Could BeMar 28Their Work Became a Demand for DignityMar 29The Capital Finally Entered the Presidential VoteMar 30She Turned Representation Into OwnershipMar 31He Cast the Amendment’s First Ballot

April

Apr 1A School Opened to Prepare Generations of LeadersApr 2He Coached a Championship and Protected the StudentApr 3The Supreme Court Struck Down the White PrimaryApr 4He Connected War Abroad to Injustice at HomeApr 5He Reached the Highest Levels of Military and Diplomatic LeadershipApr 6He Helped Lead the Final Push Across the Arctic IceApr 7She Made Every Lyric Carry a LifeApr 8He Met the Pitch—and the PressureApr 9Freedom Day at AppomattoxApr 10He Knew the Waterways to FreedomApr 11Fair Housing Became Federal LawApr 12They Built a Society to Care for Their OwnApr 13He Changed Who Could Stand at the CenterApr 14He Wore a Surgeon’s Rank Against the OddsApr 15He Changed the Lineup—and the NationApr 16Freedom Became Law in the Nation’s CapitalApr 17He Made History Out of Materials Others DiscardedApr 18He Made Medicine Part of the Fight for FreedomApr 19He Stood at Lexington While Still EnslavedApr 20The Court Gave Desegregation Practical ForceApr 21His Bravery Crossed Three Branches of Army ServiceApr 22He Composed Like a Band Could SpeakApr 23He Improved the Systems That Moved a NationApr 24He Helped Carry Hubble Into OrbitApr 25They Pooled Support for Black CollegesApr 26She Brought the Blues to the StageApr 27She Turned Memory Into a Living MovementApr 28He Risked His Title for His ConvictionsApr 29A Verdict Exposed Years of Unanswered GrievanceApr 30Bill Clay Built Power for Working People

May

May 1Her Poems Made Everyday Black Life MonumentalMay 2The Children Walked Out for FreedomMay 3Courts Could No Longer Enforce Racial CovenantsMay 4They Put the Movement on WheelsMay 5One Photograph Held a Nation’s GriefMay 6He Made Every Part of the Game Look PossibleMay 7She Opened the Profession to Black NursesMay 8A Small Recorded Legacy Changed MusicMay 9He Kept the Mower’s Gears ClearMay 10Birmingham Announced a Desegregation AgreementMay 11She Proved and Preserved a Black HomesteadMay 12Newark Elected a New Kind of City LeadershipMay 13They Sailed a Confederate Ship to FreedomMay 14His Soprano Saxophone Opened a New VoiceMay 15He Fought On After His Rifle FailedMay 16He Kept Reparations Before CongressMay 17Separate Schools Were Declared UnequalMay 18She Built Institutions From a SchoolhouseMay 19He Made Black Dignity a Global DemandMay 20He Turned a Slave Uprising Into Revolutionary PowerMay 21A Guitar Riff Helped Define Rock and RollMay 22He Made Everyday Black Life Sing on the PageMay 23A Black Broadway Hit Changed the StageMay 24Boston’s Black Community Defended a Freedom SeekerMay 25A Witnessed Injustice Moved Millions to ActMay 26Althea Gibson Won on the World StageMay 27The Navy Cross Recognized Dorie Miller’s CourageMay 28They Held Their Seats Through Mob ViolenceMay 29A Multiracial Coalition Elected Tom BradleyMay 30Vivian Malone Became Alabama’s First Black GraduateMay 31Greenwood Built, Survived, and Rebuilt

June

Jun 1Tubman Guided a River Raid Toward FreedomJun 2The 99th Fighter Squadron Entered CombatJun 3Charles Drew Made Blood Storage ScalableJun 4A Jury Acquitted Angela DavisJun 5Jessie DePriest Received a White House InvitationJun 6Colonel Charles Young Rode to Prove His FitnessJun 7Homer Plessy Entered a Planned Test of SegregationJun 8Mary Church Terrell’s Campaign Reopened Washington RestaurantsJun 9Clarence Mitchell Received the Medal of FreedomJun 10The Senate Broke the Civil Rights FilibusterJun 11New Orleans Celebrated Freedom in Congo SquareJun 12Medgar Evers Built a Movement Mississippi Could Not HideJun 13Thurgood Marshall Was Nominated to the Supreme CourtJun 14Henry Flipper Graduated from West PointJun 15Eight Black Firefighters Opened a New StationJun 16Voters—not the House—Would Choose Their RepresentativeJun 17James Weldon Johnson Joined Art with Civic PowerJun 18Lou Brock Turned Speed into a Complete Baseball CraftJun 19Black Texans Made Freedom a Living TraditionJun 20Lloyd Hall Made Food Preservation Safer and More ReliableJun 21Their Murder Could Not Stop Freedom SummerJun 22Katherine Dunham Turned Cultural Research into MovementJun 23Wilma Rudolph Became the Fastest Woman in the WorldJun 24Harvard Conferred an Honorary Degree on Booker T. WashingtonJun 25Tuskegee Residents Began Trading with Their FriendsJun 26Samuel Rosser Earned a Pediatric Surgery FirstJun 27Wilson Riles Carried Classroom Experience into State LeadershipJun 28Dorie Ladner Made Freedom Work Her Life’s PracticeJun 29James Van Der Zee Photographed Harlem from the InsideJun 30The Supreme Court Protected the Right to Organize

July

Jul 1Edward Cooper Put Stroke at the Heart of Public HealthJul 2Brock Peters Gave Difficult Roles Human DepthJul 3Esau Jenkins Turned a Bus Ride into a Citizenship SchoolJul 4Tuskegee Opened a School and Built an InstitutionJul 5Larry Doby Integrated the American LeagueJul 6Della Reese Carried One Voice Across Six DecadesJul 7Margaret Walker Wrote a People into the American EpicJul 8Faye Wattleton Made Reproductive Health a National ConversationJul 9The Fourteenth Amendment Put Birthright Citizenship into the ConstitutionJul 10Chicago’s Freedom Rally Put Housing Inequality on the City’s DoorstepJul 11Mifflin Gibbs Built Power Wherever Opportunity OpenedJul 12Joseph Elsberry Won Three Aerial Victories in One MissionJul 13Three Words Helped Launch a Global MovementJul 14The Nation Authorized a Monument to George Washington CarverJul 15Maggie Lena Walker Was Born in RichmondJul 16Frank Crosswaith Was Born in St. CroixJul 17Diahann Carroll Was Born in the BronxJul 18Lemuel Haynes Was Born in ConnecticutJul 19Rachel Robinson Was Born in Los AngelesJul 20The National Conference on Black Power Opened in NewarkJul 21Black Clubwomen Organized a National AssociationJul 22Jane Bolin Became the Nation’s First Black Woman JudgeJul 23Louis T. Wright Was Born in GeorgiaJul 24Ira Aldridge Was Born in New York CityJul 25The Untreated Syphilis Study Was Exposed to the PublicJul 26The Americans with Disabilities Act Became LawJul 27Alexander P. Ashbourne Patented a Process for Refining Coconut OilJul 28Ten Thousand People Marched in Silent ProtestJul 29Bernard LaFayette Jr. Was Born in TampaJul 30Medicare and Medicaid Became LawJul 31Whitney M. Young Jr. Was Born in Kentucky

August

Aug 1Black Transit Workers Broke a Promotion Barrier in PhiladelphiaAug 2James Baldwin Was Born in HarlemAug 3Jesse Owens Won the Olympic 100 Meters in BerlinAug 4Barack Obama Was Born in HonoluluAug 5James H. Cone Was Born in ArkansasAug 6Susie King Taylor Was Born into SlaveryAug 7Mickey Leland Died on a Humanitarian MissionAug 8Black Tennesseans Made August 8 a Freedom TraditionAug 9Willa B. Player Was Born in MississippiAug 10Mamie Smith Recorded “Crazy Blues”Aug 11Alex Haley Was Born in IthacaAug 12Ophelia DeVore Was Born in South CarolinaAug 13Lamar Smith Was Killed While Defending the VoteAug 14Ernest Everett Just Was Born in CharlestonAug 15Joan Little Was AcquittedAug 16Angela Bassett Was Born in New York CityAug 17Marcus Garvey Was Born in JamaicaAug 18James Meredith Graduated from the University of MississippiAug 19Clara Luper and Thirteen Young People Sat In at Katz Drug StoreAug 20The “Twenty and Odd” Africans Reached Point ComfortAug 21Nat Turner’s Rebellion Began in VirginiaAug 22Chester Commodore Was Born in RacineAug 23The National Negro Business League Held Its First MeetingAug 24Edith Sampson Was Nominated to Represent the United States at the United NationsAug 25Pullman Porters Organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersAug 26Katherine Johnson Was Born in West VirginiaAug 27Lester Young Was Born in MississippiAug 28The March on Washington Joined Jobs and FreedomAug 29Charity Adams Became the First Black Woman Commissioned in the WAACAug 30Gabriel’s Planned Rebellion Was Halted by a Storm and BetrayalAug 31Frank Robinson Was Born in Texas

September

Sep 1Phillis Wheatley Published the First Book by an African American PoetSep 2Allan Randall Freelon Was Born in PhiladelphiaSep 3Bessie Coleman Made the First U.S. Public Flight by a Black WomanSep 4Autherine Lucy and Pollie Anne Myers Challenged the University of AlabamaSep 5Prince Dunsick Received a Veteran’s Land BountySep 6Sylvester Was Born in Los AngelesSep 7The Senate Confirmed Joycelyn Elders as Surgeon GeneralSep 8Ruby Bridges Was Born in MississippiSep 9Arthur Ashe Won the Inaugural US OpenSep 10John Roy Lynch Was Born into SlaverySep 11The Christiana Resistance Defied the Fugitive Slave ActSep 12Mae Jemison Became the First Black Woman in SpaceSep 13Alain Locke Was Born in PhiladelphiaSep 14Carla Hayden Became Librarian of CongressSep 15George Franklin Grant Was Born in New YorkSep 16B.B. King Was Born in MississippiSep 17Vanessa Williams Became the First Black Miss AmericaSep 18Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Was Born in CaliforniaSep 19Atlanta University Was FoundedSep 20Congress Ended the Slave Trade in Washington, D.C.Sep 21The Tenth Cavalry Began Organizing at Fort LeavenworthSep 22The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation Was IssuedSep 23Rosetta Teaberry Filed to Secure Her Oklahoma HomesteadSep 24The National Museum of African American History and Culture OpenedSep 25Civil-Rights Attorney Arthur Shores Was BornSep 26Serena Williams Was Born in MichiganSep 27Black Leaders Confronted Roosevelt Over Military SegregationSep 28The National Civil Rights Museum Opened in MemphisSep 29Black Troops Broke the Line at New Market HeightsSep 30Paul Laurence Dunbar Began Working at the Library of Congress

October

Oct 1Nigeria Achieved IndependenceOct 2Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. Was Born in ChicagoOct 3WERD Began Broadcasting in AtlantaOct 4Edward “Ned” Hector Fought at GermantownOct 5Neil deGrasse Tyson Was Born in New York CityOct 6She Opened Transplant Surgery to Black WomenOct 7Desmond Tutu Was Born in South AfricaOct 8Faith Ringgold Was Born in HarlemOct 9Ernest “Dutch” Morial Was Born in New OrleansOct 10Thelonious Monk Was Born in North CarolinaOct 11The First Colored World Series Opened in Kansas CityOct 12Darby Vassall’s Long Fight for Freedom Ended in BostonOct 13Arna Bontemps Was Born in LouisianaOct 14Samuel Burris Was Born Free in DelawareOct 15Wyomia Tyus Defended Her Olympic 100-Meter TitleOct 16The Million Man March Gathered in WashingtonOct 17Jupiter Hammon Was Born on Long IslandOct 18Bob Beamon Made His Historic Olympic LeapOct 19Johnnetta Betsch Cole Was Born in JacksonvilleOct 20Kamala Harris Was Born in OaklandOct 21Dizzy Gillespie Was Born in South CarolinaOct 22Chicago Students Led the Freedom Day School BoycottOct 23Pelé Was Born in BrazilOct 24Marjorie Stewart Joyner Was BornOct 25Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Became the First Black GeneralOct 26Mahalia Jackson Was Born in New OrleansOct 27Philip B. Downing Patented Letter-Box ImprovementsOct 28A Stronger Federal Response to Hate CrimesOct 29Harriet Powers Stitched History into Story QuiltsOct 30Birmingham Elected Richard Arrington Jr. MayorOct 31Earl Lloyd Entered an NBA Game and History

November

Nov 1Ebony Put Black Life at the CenterNov 2Katie Hall Helped Make the King Holiday LawNov 3Eva Clayton Carried Rural North Carolina to CongressNov 4Patricia Bath Made Sight a Human RightNov 5William Warley Helped Break Racial ZoningNov 6Students Struck to Transform What Colleges TeachNov 7Magic Johnson Turned Disclosure into Public-Health ActionNov 8Crystal Bird Fauset Carried Community Work into LawmakingNov 9Alice Coachman Cleared More Than a BarNov 10Alexander Manly Defended Truth in PrintNov 11George Washington Henderson Made Scholarship a CallingNov 12Ken Houston Redefined Defensive ExcellenceNov 13Buck O'Neil Made Memory Part of the GameNov 14Condoleezza Rice Brought Scholarship into DiplomacyNov 15Elizabeth Keckley Sewed Freedom into EnterpriseNov 16He Kept the Black Panthers Moving ForwardNov 17Howard Put Black Public Television on the AirNov 18Allyson Felix Ran Beyond the Finish LineNov 19John Hulett Turned Registration into Local PowerNov 20Julia Davis Made Black History a Public ResourceNov 21Margaret Burroughs Built Culture from CommunityNov 22Nichelle Nichols Made the Future More InclusiveNov 23John Lee Love Improved an Everyday ToolNov 24Dorothy Gilliam Changed Who Reported the NewsNov 25John Sengstacke Made the Black Press a Collective ForceNov 26Sojourner Truth Made Freedom Her Life’s WorkNov 27Jimi Hendrix Expanded the Electric Guitar’s LanguageNov 28Richard Wright Made Literature Confront American RacismNov 29Pearl Primus Joined Dance with Anthropology and JusticeNov 30Robert Guillaume Expanded the Roles Black Actors Could Command

December

Dec 1Carrie Saxon Perry Brought a Black Woman’s Leadership to City HallDec 2Charles H. Wesley Wrote Black Institutions into the Center of HistoryDec 3Ralph Gardner-Chavis Built a Life in Chemistry Despite Closed DoorsDec 4Seven Students Built a Brotherhood for Scholarship and ServiceDec 5Black Women United Organizations into a National CouncilDec 6William Stanley Braithwaite Helped Decide Which Poems America ReadDec 7Willie Barrow Made Organizing the Work of a LifetimeDec 8John T. White Patented a Practical, Cleanable Lemon SqueezerDec 9Deacon Jones Changed How Football Saw the Pass RushDec 10Ralph Bunche Received the Nobel Peace Prize for Patient MediationDec 11John E. Bush Built Economic Protection Through Mutual AidDec 12Joseph Rainey Took His Seat in the U.S. HouseDec 13Ella Baker Was Born in NorfolkDec 14John Mercer Langston Was Born in VirginiaDec 15William Augustus Hinton Was Born in ChicagoDec 16Charles L. Blockson Was Born in NorristownDec 17Charles V. Bush Was BornDec 18George Henry White Was Born in North CarolinaDec 19Cicely Tyson Was Born in New York CityDec 20Georgia Elected Jefferson Franklin Long to CongressDec 21Ellen and William Craft Began Their Journey to FreedomDec 22Isaac Wright Completed His Homestead ClaimDec 23Pauli Murray’s Family Home Became a National Historic LandmarkDec 24Shiloh’s Students Read Aloud in FreedomDec 25He Made the Whole Band Part of the ShowDec 26Kwanzaa Created a New African American Cultural TraditionDec 27The Pythian Bathhouse Opened Healthcare and HospitalityDec 28Black Moravians Raised and Opened a Log ChurchDec 29New Philadelphia Became a National Historic SiteDec 30Harriet Branum Johnson Received Her Land PatentDec 31Freedom’s Eve Became Watch Night