February 13
1818 Absalom Jones, the first African-American Episcopal priest ordained in the United States, dies in Philadelphia
1970 Joseph L. Searles III becomes the first African-American member of the New York Stock Exchange
February 14
1760 Richard Allen, the first African-American ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, is born in Philadelphia
1817 African-American publisher, author and abolitionist Frederick Douglass is born
1867 Augusta Institute, later to become Morehouse College in Atlanta, is founded
1879 Blanche Ketene “B.K.” Bruce of Mississippi becomes the first African-American to preside over a state senate session
1957 The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is organized
February 15
1915 Biologist Ernest E. Just receives the Spingarn Medal for his research on fertilization and cell division
1965 Nat “King” Cole, singer and jazz pianist, dies
February 16
1923 Bessie Smith makes her first recording, “Down Hearted Blues,” which sells 800,000 copies for Columbia Records
1968 Henry Lewis becomes the first African-American to head a symphony orchestra
February 17
1938 Mary Frances Berry, first woman to serve as chancellor of a major research university, is born
1982 Thelonius Monk, jazz pianist and composer, dies
February 18
1688 First formal protest against slavery by an organized white body in the colonies occurs. It is the “Germantown Protest” by Pennsylvania Quakers and Mennonites in Germantown, Pa.
1931 Toni Morrison, 1993 Nobel Laureate in Literature and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is born
February 19
1919 The first Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. DuBois, is held in Paris
1923 In Moore vs. Dempsey decision, the U.S. Supreme Court guarantees due process of law to African- Americans in state courts
1992 John Singleton becomes the first African-American director nominated for an Oscar
