April 1 – Scott Joplin dies in New York City. Joplin was one of the early developers of ragtime and the author of “Maple Leaf Rag”. He also created several ragtime and grand operas, 1917.
April 1 – The First world festival of Black art held in Dakar, Senegal. One of the largest delegations came from Black America, 1966.
April 1 – Marvin Gaye dies in his parents Los Angeles home. Marvin attacked his father for verbally abusing his mother. His father responded by shooting his son to death. His death came one day shy of his 45th birthday. 1984.
April 1 –Clara McBride Hale is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hale founded Hale House, a home for infant children of drug addicts located in Harlem, NY, 1905.
April 1 – Hampton University was established in Hampton, Virginia, 1868.
April 2 – Coach John Thompson of Georgetown University becomes the first Black coach to win the NCAA basketball tournament, 1984.
April 2 – Renowned African American artist Charles White is born in Chicago, IL, 1918.
April 3 –Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his final address at Bishop Charles J. Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, 1968.
April 3 – Rainey, Ma (Gertrude Bridget) known as the “Mother of the Blues, is born in Columbus, Ga., 1888.
April 3 – Maya Angelou, author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist is born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928.
April 4 – Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Assassination precipitated a national crisis and rioting in more than one hundred cities. Forty-six persons were killed in major rebellions in Washington, Chicago and other cities. Many public school systems closed and the opening of the baseball season was postponed. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Sunday, April 6, a national day of mourning, 1968.
April 4 – Blues legend Muddy Waters is born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Miss., 1915.
April 5 – Booker Taliaferro Washington is born a slave in Hale’s Ford, Virginia, 1856.
April 6 – Dred and Harriet Scott filed suit against Irene Emerson for their freedom. The Dred Scott case was first brought to trial in 1847 in the first floor, west wing courtroom of St. Louis’ Courthouse, 1846.