Black history facts, Feb. 22-28

February 22

1888 — Painter Horace Pippin was born. He was a self-taught artist who painted a range of themes, including scenes inspired by his service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and biblical subjects.

1911 — Activist and social reformer Frances Ellis Watkins Harper died. She was the first African American woman to publish a short story, and also an influential abolitionist, suffragist and reformer who co-founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs.

1938 —Ishmael Reed was born. He was a poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture.

1950 — Basketball player Julius “Dr J” Erving was born. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential basketball players of all time.

1979 — Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first Black general in the U.S. Marine Corps.

1989 — DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince won the first rap Grammy for their single “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”

February 23

1925 — Louis Stokes,former mayor of Detroit, Michigan, and member of the US House of Representatives, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Stokes was the first African American elected to the House from Ohio.

1929 — Baseball catcher Elston Gene Howard was born in St. Louis. In 1965, Howard signed a $70,000 contract with the N.Y. Yankees and became the highest paid player in the history of baseball at the time.

1965 — Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a Black woman in a major American city.

February 24

1864 — Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College.

2000 — Katherine G. Johnson, the NASA mathematician who played a key role in helping America win the space race and whose story was featured in the 2016 film Hidden Figures, died. She was 101 years old.

February 25

1870 — Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi was sworn in as first Black U.S. Senator and first Black Representative in Congress. 

1948 — Martin Luther King was ordained as a Baptist minister. 

February 26

1926 — Carter G. Woodson started Negro History Week. This week would later become Black History Month.

February 27

1869 — John W. Menard spoke in Congress in defense of his claim to a contested seat in Louisiana’s Second Congressional District. Congress decided against both claimants. Congressman James A. Garfield of the examining committee said, “it was too early to admit a Negro to the U.S. Congress.” Menard was the first Black person to make a speech in Congress.

1988 — Figure skater Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal (bronze) at the winter Olympic Games.

February 28

1859 — The Arkansas legislature required free Black people to choose between exile and enslavement. 

1932 — Richard Spikes invented/patented the automatic gear shift. His other inventions include beer tap, automobile directional signals and other motor vehicles and a safety braking system for trucks and buses.

Sources: Black Enterprise, Wikipedia