Coloured Americans

1868 Fourteenth Amendment ratified. On July 21, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship to any person born or naturalized in the United States.

Thaddeus Stevens dies. Thaddeus Stevens, Radical Republican leader in Congress and father of Reconstruction, died on August 11.

Massacre in Louisiana. The Opelousas Massacre occurred in Louisiana on September 28, in which an estimated 200 to 300 black Americans were killed. Ulysses S. Grant becomes president. Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) was elected president on November 3.

1869

Fifteenth Amendment approved. On February 26, Congress sent the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution to the states for approval. The amendment would guarantee black Americans the right to vote.

First black diplomat. On April 6, Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was appointed minister to Haiti -- the first black American diplomat and the first black American presidential appointment. For many years thereafter, both Democratic and Republican administrations appointed black Americans as ministers to Haiti and Liberia.

1870

Census of 1870.

U.S. population: 39,818,449

The first African-American senator. Hiram R. Revels (Republican) of Mississippi took his seat February 25. He was the first black United States senator, though he served only one year.

Fifteenth Amendment ratified. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on March 30.

1875 Civil Rights Act of 1875. Congress approved the Civil Rights Act on March 1, guaranteeing equal rights to black Americans in public accommodations and jury duty. The legislation was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1883. The first African-American to serve a full term as senator. Blanche Kelso Bruce (Republican) of Mississippi took his seat in the United States Senate on March 3. He would become the first African-American to serve a full six-year term. Not until 1969 did another black American begin a Senate term.

Clinton Massacre. On September 4-6, more than 20 black Americans were killed in a massacre in Clinton, Mississippi.

1876

Race riots and terrorism. A summer of race riots and terrorism directed at blacks occurred in South Carolina. President Grant sent federal troops to restore order.

A close presidential election. In the presidential election of 1876, the outcome in the

Electoral College appeared too close to be conclusive in the campaign of Samuel Tilden (Democrat) versus Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican).

1877

The end of Reconstruction. A deal with Southern Democratic leaders made Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) president, in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the end of federal efforts to protect the civil rights of African-Americans.

1880

James Garfield elected president. On November 2, James A. Garfield, Republican, was elected president.

1881

President Garfield assassinated. President Garfield was shot on July 2; he died on September 19. Vice President Chester A. Arthur (Republican) succeeded Garfield as president.

Tuskegee Institute founded. Booker T. Washington became the first principal of Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, on July 4. Tuskegee became the leading vocational training institution for African-Americans.

Segregation of public transportation. Tennessee segregated railroad cars, followed by Florida (1887), Mississippi (1888), Texas (1889), Louisiana (1990), Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Georgia (1891), South Carolina (1898), North Carolina (1899), Virginia (1900), Maryland (1904), and Oklahoma (1907).

1883

Civil Rights Act overturned. On October 15, the Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. The Court declared that the Fourteenth Amendment forbids states, but not citizens, from discriminating.

A political coup and a race riot. On November 3, white conservatives in Danville,

Virginia, seized control of the local government, racially integrated and popularly elected, killing four African-Americans in the process.

1884

Cleveland elected president. Grover Cleveland (Democrat) was elected president on November 4.

1886

The Carrollton Massacre. On March 17, 20 black Americans were massacred at Carrollton, Mississippi.

Labor organizes. The American Federation of Labor was organized on December 8, signaling the rise of the labor movement. All major unions of the day excluded black Americans.

1888

Two of the first African-American banks. Two of America's first black-owned banks -- the Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of the Reformers, in Richmond Virginia, and Capital Savings Bank of Washington, DC, opened their doors.

Harrison elected president. Benjamin Harrison (Republican) was elected president on November 6.

1890

African-Americans are disenfranchised. The Mississippi Plan, approved on November 1, used literacy and "understanding" tests to disenfranchise black American citizens. Similar statutes were adopted by South Carolina (1895), Louisiana (1898), North Carolina (1900), Alabama (1901), Virginia (1901), Georgia (1908), and Oklahoma (1910).

1892

Grover Cleveland elected president. Grover Cleveland (Democrat) was elected president on November 8.

1894

The Pullman strike. The Pullman Company strike caused a national transportation crisis. On May 11, African-Americans were hired by the company as strike-breakers.

1895

.

A race riot. Whites attacked black workers in New Orleans on March 11-12. Six

blacks were killed.

The Atlanta Compromise. Booker T. Washington delivered his famous "Atlanta Compromise" address on September 18 at the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition. He said the "Negro problem" would be solved by a policy of gradualism and accommodation.

The National Baptist Convention. Several Baptist organizations combined to form the National Baptist Convention of the U.S.A.; the Baptist church is the largest black religious denomination in the United States.

1896 Plessy v. Ferguson. The Supreme Court decided on May 18 in Plessy v. Ferguson that "separate but equal" facilities satisfy Fourteenth Amendment guarantees, thus giving legal sanction to Jim Crow segregation laws.

Black women organize. The National Association of Colored Women was formed on July 21; Mary Church Terrell was chosen president.

McKinley elected president. On November 3, William McKinley (Republican) was elected president.

George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was appointed director of agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute. His work advanced peanut, sweet potato, and soybean farming.

1897

American Negro Academy. The American Negro Academy was established on March 5 to encourage African-American participation in art, literature and philosophy.

1898

The Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War began on April 21. Sixteen regiments of black volunteers were recruited; four saw combat. Five black Americans won Congressional Medals of Honor.

The National Afro-American Council. Founded on September 15, the National Afro-American Council elected Bishop Alexander Walters its first president.

A race riot. On November 10, in Wilmington, North Carolina, eight black Americans

were killed during white rioting.

Black-owned insurance companies. The North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance Company and the National Benefit Life Insurance Company of Washington,

DC were established. Both companies were black-owned.

1900

A World's Fair. The Paris Exposition was held, and the United States pavilion

housed an exhibition on black Americans. The "Exposition des Negres d'Amerique" won several awards for excellence. Daniel A. P. Murray's collection of works by and about black Americans was developed for this exhibition.

1901 The last African-American congressman for 28 years. George H. White gave up his seat on March 4. No African-American would serve in Congress for the next 28 years. President McKinley assassinated. President McKinley died of an assassin's bullet on September 14, a week after being shot in Buffalo, New York. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him as president.

Washington dines at the White House. On October 16, after an afternoon meeting at the White House with Booker T. Washington, President Theodore Roosevelt informally invited Washington to remain and eat dinner with him, making Washington the first black American to dine at the White House with the president. A furor arose over the social implications of Roosevelt's casual act.

1903

The Souls of Black Folk. W. E. B. Du Bois's celebrated book, The Souls of Black Folk, was published on April 27. In it, Du Bois rejected the gradualism of Booker T. Washington, calling for agitation on behalf of African-American rights.

1905

The Niagara Movement. On July 11-13, African-American intellectuals and activists, led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter, began the Niagara Movement.

1906

Soldiers riot. In Brownsville, Texas on August 13, black troops rioted against segregation. On November 6, President Theodore Roosevelt discharged three companies of black soldiers involved in the riot.

A race riot. On September 22-24, in a race riot in Atlanta, ten blacks and two whites

were killed.

1908

Thurgood Marshall born. Born in Baltimore on July 2, Thurgood Marshall, was the attorney for the NAACP in the famous case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), in which the Supreme Court found segregated schools to be inherently unequal. He later

became the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court.

A race riot. Many were killed and wounded in a race riot on August 14-19, in

Abraham Lincoln's home town of Springfield, Illinois.

Taft elected president. On November 3, William Howard Taft (Republican) was elected president.

1909

The NAACP is formed. On February 12 -- the centennial of the birth of Lincoln -- a national appeal led to the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization formed to promote use of the courts to restore the legal rights of black Americans.

1910

Crisis debuts. The first issue of Crisis, a publication sponsored by the NAACP and edited by W. E.B. Du Bois, appeared on November 1.

Segregated neighborhoods. On December 19, the City Council of Baltimore approved the first city ordinance designating the boundaries of black and white neighborhoods. This ordinance was followed by similar ones in Dallas, Texas, Greensboro, North Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky, Norfolk, Virginia, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Richmond, Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia, and St. Louis, Missouri. The Supreme Court declared the Louisville ordinance to be unconstitutional in 1917.

1911

The National Urban League begins. In October, the National Urban League was organized to help African-Americans secure equal employment. Professor Kelly Miller was a founding member.

1912

Wilson elected president. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) was elected president on November 5.

1913 Jubilee year. The fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation was celebrated throughout the year.

Harriet Tubman dies. Harriet Tubman -- former slave, abolitionist, and freedom fighter -- died on March 10.

Federal segregation. On April 11, the Wilson administration began government-wide segregation of work places, rest rooms and lunch rooms.

1914

World War I. World War I began in Europe.

1915

Booker T. Washington dies. Renowned African-American spokesman Booker T. Washington died on November 14.

1917

World War I. America entered World War I on April 6. 370,000 African-Americans were in military service -- more than half in the French war zone.

A race riot. One of the bloodiest race riots in the nation's history took place in East St.

Louis, Illinois, on July 1-3. A Congressional committee reported that 40 to 200 people were killed, hundreds more injured, and 6,000 driven from their homes.

NAACP protest. Thousands of African-Americans marched down Manhattan's Fifth

Avenue on July 28, protesting lynchings, race riots, and the denial of rights.

A race riot. On August 23, a riot erupted in Houston between black soldiers and white

citizens; 2 blacks and 11 whites were killed. 18 black soldiers were hanged for participation in the riot.

The Supreme Court acts. On November 5, the Supreme Court struck down the Louisville, Kentucky ordinance mandating segregated neighborhoods.

1918

A race riot. On July 25-28, a race riot occurred in Chester, Pennsylvania. 3 blacks and

2 whites were killed.

A race riot. On July 26-29, a race riot occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 3

blacks and 1 white were killed.

World War I ends. The Armistice took effect on November 11, ending World War I. The northern migration of African-Americans began in earnest during the war. By 1930 there were 1,035,000 more black Americans in the North, and 1,143,000 fewer black Americans in the South than in 1910.

1919

"Red Summer." This was the year of the "Red Summer," with 26 race riots between the months of April and October. These included disturbances in the following areas: May 10 Charleston, South Carolina.

1920

The Harlem Renaissance. The decade of the Twenties witnessed the Harlem Renaissance, a remarkable period of creativity for black writers, poets, and artists, including these authors: Claude McKay, Harlem Shadows, 1922

Countee Cullen, Color, 1925

The rise of Marcus Garvey. On August 1, Marcus Garvey's Universal Improvement Association held its national convention in Harlem, the traditionally black neighborhood in New York City. Garvey's African nationalist movement was the first black American mass movement, and at its height it claimed hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Harding elected president. On November 3, Warren G. Harding (Republican) was elected president.

1921

A race riot. On May 31-June 1, in a race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 21 whites and 60

blacks were killed. The violence destroyed a thriving African American neighborhood and business district.

1922

An anti-lynching effort. On January 26, a federal anti-lynching bill was killed by a filibuster in the United States Senate.

1923

President Harding dies. President Warren Harding died on August 3; Vice President Calvin Coolidge succeeded him as president.

1925

Malcolm X born. On May 19, in Omaha, Nebraska, civil rights leader Malcolm X was born.

Sleeping car porters organize. On August 2, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was organized. A. Philip Randolph was chosen president. Daniel A. P. Murray dies. Assistant Librarian of Congress and African-American historian Daniel A. P. Murray died in Washington, DC, on March 31.

1925

The New Negro, an anthology of fiction, poetry, drama, and essays associated with the Harlem Renaissance, is edited by Alain Locke.

1925

In an era when Ku Klux Klan membership exceeds 4,000,000 nationally, a parade of 50,000 unmasked members takes place in Washington, D.C.

1925

Countee Cullen, one of the finest poets of the Harlem Renaissance, publishes his first collection of poems, Color, to critical acclaim before graduating from New York University.

1925 Singer and dancer Josephine Baker goes to Paris to dance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in La Revue nègre, becoming one of the most popular entertainers in France.

1925

A. Philip Randolph, trade unionist and civil-rights leader, founds the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which becomes the first successful black trade union.

1925

At a historic literary awards banquet during the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes earns first place in poetry with The Weary Blues, which is read aloud by James Weldon Johnson.

1926

The literary journal Fire!!, edited by young writer Wallace Thurman, publishes its first and only issue. The short-lived publication remains highly influential among the participants of the Harlem Renaissance.

c. 1926 Pianist, composer, and self-proclaimed inventor of jazz Jelly Roll Morton records several of his masterpieces, including "Black Bottom Stomp" and "Dead Man Blues."

1927

James Weldon Johnson, poet and anthologist of black culture, publishes God's Trombones, a group of black dialect sermons in verse accompanied by the illustrations of Aaron Douglas.

1927

Poet and playwright Angelina Weld Grimké publishes Caroling Dusk, an anthology of her poetry edited by Countee Cullen.

1927

Painter Henry Ossawa Tanner, whose works include "The Raising of Lazarus," becomes the first black American to be granted full membership in the National Academy of Design.

1928

Poet and novelist Claude McKay publishes Home to Harlem, the first fictional work by an African-American to reach the best-seller lists.

1929

John Hope, noted advocate of advanced liberal arts instruction for blacks, is chosen as president of Atlanta University, the first graduate school for African-Americans.

1930

Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., becomes the first black colonel in the U.S. Army. He later oversees race relations and the morale of black soldiers in World War II and becomes the first

black general in 1940.

1931

Nine black youths accused of raping two white women on a freight train go on trial for their lives in Scottsboro, Ala. The case becomes a cause célèbre among Northern liberal and radical groups.

1931

Walter White begins his tenure as executive secretary of the NAACP, his principal objective being the abolition of lynching. By the time of his death in 1955, lynchings would become a rarity.

1932

In Tuskegee, Ala., the U.S. Public Health Service begins examining the course of untreated syphilis in black men, not telling them of their syphilis or their participation in the 40-year study.

1932

Wallace Thurman, young literary rebel of the Harlem Renaissance, publishes his satiric novel Infants of the Spring.

1934

Wallace D. Fard, founder of the Nation of Islam movement, disappears, leading to the rise of Elijah Muhammad.

1936

Track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens wins four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. His victories derail Adolf Hitler's intended use of the games as a show of Aryan supremacy.

c. 1936 Delta blues musician Robert Johnson makes his legendary and influential recordings in Texas, including "Me and the Devil Blues," "Hellhound on My Trail," and "Love in Vain."

1937

Writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston publishes her second novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which receives considerable acclaim and criticism within the black community.

1938

In a knockout in the first round of their rematch, heavyweight champion Joe Louis wreaks vengeance on Max Schmeling of Germany, the only boxer to have knocked out Louis in his prime.

c. 1938 Assisted by saxophonist Lester Young, her romantic companion during these years, jazz vocalist Billie Holiday makes several of her finest recordings. c. 1939 Count Basie leads his legendary Kansas City band, including saxophonist Lester Young, trumpeter Buck Clayton, guitarist Freddie Green, bassist Walter Page, and drummer Jo Jones.

1939

Singer Marian Anderson performs at the Lincoln Memorial before an audience of 75,000 after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow her to sing at Constitution Hall.

1939

The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund is organized. Charles Hamilton Houston spearheads the effort to consolidate some of the nation's best legal talents in the fight against legally sanctioned bias.

1940

Author Richard Wright publishes his masterpiece, Native Son. The stark, tragic realism of this novel immediately places Wright in the front ranks of contemporary American writers. c. 1940 Painter Jacob Lawrence begins work on his 60-panel "Migration" series, which depicts the journey of African-Americans from the South to the urban North. c. 1940 Duke Ellington leads his greatest band, including bassist Jimmy Blanton, saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Cootie Williams, and composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn.

1941

Bayard Rustin, chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, organizes the New York branch of the Congress on Racial Equality.

1941

Following considerable protest, the War Department forms the all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps, later known as the Tuskegee Airmen, commanded by Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr.

1942

Charles Richard Drew, developer and director of blood plasma programs during World War II, resigns as the armed forces begin to accept the blood of blacks but resolve to racially segregate the supply.

1942 The interracial Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is founded in New York City. Its directaction tactics achieve national prominence during the Freedom Rides of 1961. c. 1942 Bebop is born out of the musical experiments of jazz musicians in Harlem, including saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and pianist Thelonious Monk.

1943

Dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson appears with singer Lena Horne in the wartime all-black musical film Stormy Weather.

1945

Ebony magazine is founded by John H. Johnson of Chicago. Modeled after Life but intended for the black middle class, the magazine is an instant success.

1945

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Harlem, serving 11 successive terms. c. 1946 Saxophonist Charlie Parker, though plagued by drug abuse, produces many of the finest recordings of his career, including "Now's the Time," "KoKo," "Yardbird Suite," and "Ornithology."

1947

Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black baseball player in the major leagues.

1947

Historian John Hope Franklin gains international attention with the publication of From Slavery to Freedom, an enduring survey of African-American history.

1948

Satchel Paige, legendary baseball pitcher of the Negro leagues, finally enters the majors after the "gentlemen's agreement" prohibiting the signing of black players is relaxed.

1949

Not satisfied with Billboard magazine's label of "race records" for its black music chart, Jerry Wexler, a white reporter at the magazine, introduces the designation "rhythm and blues."

1950

Ralph Bunche is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as United Nations mediator in the Arab-Israeli dispute in Palestine.

1950 Gwendolyn Brooks is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for Annie Allen (1949), becoming the first African-American writer to win the award.

1950

After refusing to disavow his membership in the Communist Party, Paul Robeson--singer, actor, and activist--has his passport withdrawn by the U.S. State Department.

1952

Ralph Ellison publishes his masterpiece, Invisible Man, which receives the National Book Award in 1953.

1954

On May 17 the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of

Constitution.

1954

In the World Series against the Cleveland Indians, New York Giants outfielder Willie Mays makes "the catch." The extraordinary over-the-shoulder catch remains one of the most talkedabout plays in baseball history

1955 Lynchings continue in the South with the brutal slaying of a 14-year-old Chicago youth,

her seat when ordered by a local bus driver, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott of 195556.

1955

Opera diva Leontyne Price is triumphant in the title role of the National Broadcasting Company's Tosca, making her the first black to sing opera on television.

1955

Singer and guitarist Chuck Berry travels from St. Louis to Chicago, recording "Maybellene,"

an immediate sensation among teenagers. The hit helps shape the evolution of rock and roll.

1956

Clifford Brown, the most influential trumpeter of his generation, dies at the age of 25 in a car accident. Noted for his lyricism and grace of technique, Brown is a principal figure in the hard-bop idiom.

1956

Arthur Mitchell, future director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, becomes the only black dancer in the New York City Ballet. George Balanchine creates several roles especially for him.

1956

Tennis player Althea Gibson becomes the first African-American to win a major title--the Wimbledon doubles--as well as the French singles and doubles and Italian singles.

1957

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is established by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and others to coordinate and assist local organizations working for the full equality of African-Americans.1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders federal troops into Little Rock, Ark., after unsuccessfully trying to persuade Governor Orval Faubus to give up efforts to block desegregation at Central High.957 Fullback Jim Brown begins his professional football career with the Cleveland Browns. He leads the National Football League in rushing for eight of his nine seasons.

1958

Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, considered by many to be the greatest fighter in history, wins

back the middleweight title for the last time by defeating Carmen Basilio in a savage fight.

1958

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is formed. Composed primarily of African-Americans, the dance company tours extensively both in the United States and abroad.

1958

Mahalia Jackson, known as the "Queen of Gospel Song," joins Duke Ellington in his gospel interlude Black, Brown, and Beige at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.

1959

Singer Ray Charles records "What'd I Say," which becomes his first million-seller, and exemplifies the emergence of soul music, combining rhythm and blues with gospel.

1959

Trumpeter Miles Davis records Kind of Blue, often considered his masterwork, with composer-arranger-pianist Bill Evans and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane.1959 Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, becomes the first drama by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. The 1961 film version features Sidney Poitier and receives a special award at Cannes.1959 Motown Records is founded in Detroit, Mich., by Berry Gordy, Jr. The "Motown sound" dominates black popular music through the 1960s and attracts a significant white audience as well.

1959

Baseball player Ernie Banks, regarded as one of the finest power hitters in the history of the game, is named the National League's Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive season.

1959

Pioneer free jazz musician Ornette Coleman and his quartet play for the first time at New York's Five Spot Café. The historic performance yields a highly polarized reaction from the audience.

1960

Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton found Stax Records of Memphis, Tenn., which comes to define the Southern soul music sound, including such artists as Sam and Dave, Booker T. and the MGs, and Otis Redding.

1960

The sit-in movement is launched at Greensboro, N.C., when black college students insist on service at a local segregated lunch counter.

1960 Inspired by the sit-in movement, jazz drummer Max Roach composes and records the historic "Freedom Now Suite" with lyricist Oscar Brown, Jr., and his wife, vocalist Abbey Lincoln.1961 Testing desegregation practices in the South, the Freedom Rides, sponsored by CORE, encounter overwhelming violence, particularly in Alabama, leading to federal intervention.1961 Whitney Young is appointed executive director of the National Urban League. He builds a reputation for his behind-the-scenes work to bridge the gap between white political and business leaders and poor blacks.

1962

Basketball player Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first player to score more than 4,000 points in regular-season National Basketball Association games.

1962

The New Yorker magazine publishes a long article by author James Baldwin on aspects of the civil-rights struggle. The article becomes a best-seller in book form as The Fire Next Time.

1963

Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP, is shot and killed in an ambush in front of his home, following a historic broadcast on the subject of civil rights by President John F. Kennedy.1963 In Birmingham, Ala., Police Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor uses water hoses and dogs against civil-rights protesters, many of whom are children, increasing pressure on President John F. Kennedy to act.1963 The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., writes "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" to eight clergymen who attacked his role in Birmingham. Widely reprinted, it soon becomes a classic of protest literature.1963 Sidney Poitier wins the Academy Award as best actor for his performance in Lilies of the Field. In 1967 he stars in two films concerning race relations, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night.1963 The Civil Rights Movement reaches its climax with a massive march on Washington, D.C. Among the themes of the march "for jobs and freedom" was a demand for passage of the Civil Rights Act. c. 1963 Free jazz, an approach to jazz improvisation that emerged during the late 1950s, gains

momentum and influence among a wide variety of jazz artists led by Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Sun Ra, and others.1964 Malcolm X leaves the Nation of Islam, announcing the formation of his own religious

organization. He makes the pilgrimage to Mecca, modifying his views on black separatism upon his return.1964 LeRoi Jones's play Dutchman appears off-Broadway and wins critical acclaim. The play exposes the suppressed anger and hostility of American blacks toward the dominant white culture.1964 President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law, giving federal law enforcement agencies the power to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of public facilities.1964 The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., is awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in Oslo, Norway.1964 Bob Gibson, phenomenal pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, begins an unprecedented streak of seven straight World Series wins by taking Game Five and, on two days' rest, Game Seven.

1964

Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane records his masterpiece, A Love Supreme.1965 The Voting Rights Act is passed following the Selma-to-Montgomery March, which garnered the nation's attention when marchers were beaten mercilessly by state troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.1965 The Watts area of Los Angeles explodes into violence following the arrest of a young male motorist charged with reckless driving. At the riot's end, 34 are dead, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested.

1966

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense is founded in Oakland, Calif., by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, with the original purpose of protecting residents from acts of police brutality.

1966

Charting a new course for the Civil Rights Movement, Stokely Carmichael, chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, chooses to use the phrase "black power" at a rally during the James Meredith March that summer in Mississippi.

1966

Bill Russell, one of the greatest defensive centres in the history of basketball, becomes the

first black coach of a major professional sports team (the Boston Celtics) in the United States.

1966

The African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, patterned after various African harvest festivals, is created by Maulana Karenga, a black-studies professor at California State University at Long Beach.

1967

After being denied his seat in the Georgia state legislature (after being duly elected) for opposing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, civil-rights activist Julian Bond is finally sworn in on January 9.

1967

Singer Aretha Franklin releases a series of hits including "I Never Loved a Man," "Baby, I Love You," and "Respect," the last of which becomes something of an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement.

1967

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali refuses to submit to induction into the armed forces. Convicted of violating the Selective Service Act, Ali is barred from the ring and stripped of his title.

1967

Blues and rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix makes his spectacular debut at the Monterey International Pop Festival, following the successful release of his first album, Are You Experienced?

1967

Huey P. Newton, cofounder of the Black Panther Party, is convicted on a charge of manslaughter in the death of an Oakland policeman, leading to the rapid expansion of the party nationwide.

1968

Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panther Party's minister of information, publishes his autobiographical volume Soul on Ice.1968 On April 4 the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. The assassination is followed by a week of rioting in at least 125 cities across the nation, including Washington, D.C.1968 Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy succeeds him as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, carrying out the SCLC's Poor

People's Campaign.

1968

Bob Beamon sets the world record in the long jump at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, surpassing the previous mark by 21-3/4 inches.

1968

After winning the gold medal, sprinter Tommie Smith and teammate John Carlos give a black-power salute during the awards ceremony, leading to their suspension by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

1968

Actor James Earl Jones wins acclaim and a Tony award for his portrayal of legendary boxer Jack Johnson in Howard Sackler's play The Great White Hope and later stars in the film version (1970).

1968

Amira Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) and Larry Neal publish Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing in the spirit of the black aesthetic movement, which sought to create a populist art form to promote black nationalism.

1968

Shirley Chisholm becomes the first black American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, defeating civil-rights leader James Farmer.

1969

Black Panther Party cofounder Bobby Seale is ordered bound and gagged by the judge in the Chicago "conspiracy trial" after protests by Seale that he was being denied his constitutional right to counsel.

1970

Baseball player Curt Flood, with the backing of the Major League Baseball Players Association, unsuccessfully challenges the reserve clause but begins its eventual demise.

1971

Author Ernest J. Gaines publishes The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a fictional remembrance by an elderly black woman of the years between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement.

1971

Angela Davis is arraigned on charges of murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy for her alleged participation in a violent attempted escape from the Hall of Justice in Marin county, Calif., in 1970.

1972 Writer Ishmael Reed publishes Mumbo Jumbo. Its irreverent tone successfully revives the tradition of the black satiric novel.

1974

Baseball player Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record, which had stood since 1935.

1974

Actress Cicely Tyson is lauded for her role as the 110-year-old title character of the television drama The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, which was adapted from the Ernest J. Gaines novel.

1974

Boxer George Foreman, previously undefeated in professional bouts, falls to Muhammad Ali in eight rounds at Kinshasa, Zaire--the storied "Rumble in the Jungle."

1975

Playwright Ntozake Shange receives considerable acclaim for her theatre piece For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

1975

Tennis player Arthur Ashe wins the singles title at Wimbledon, becoming the first black winner of a major men's singles championship.

1975

Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, dies. After his son renames the organization and integrates it into orthodox Islam, Minister Louis Farrakhan reclaims and rebuilds the Nation of Islam.

1976

Barbara Jordan, congressional representative from Texas, delivers the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, confirming her reputation as one of the most eloquent public speakers of her era.

1977

Alex Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976) is adapted for television, becoming one of the most popular shows in the history of American television.

1977

Benjamin L. Hooks becomes the executive director of the NAACP, succeeding Roy Wilkins. Stressing the need for affirmative action and increased minority voter registration, Hooks serves until 1993.1978

In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court rules against fixed racial quotas but upholds the use of race as a factor in making decisions on admissions for

professional schools.1978 Sociologist William Julius Wilson publishes The Declining Significance of Race, which maintains that class divisions and global economic changes, more than racism, created a large black underclass.

1981

Civil-rights leader Andrew Young is elected mayor of Atlanta, Ga., an office he holds through 1989.

1982

Playwright Charles Fuller wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama for A Soldier's Play, which examines conflict among black soldiers on a Southern army base during World War II.

1982

Singer Michael Jackson creates a sensation with the album Thriller, which becomes one of the most popular albums of all time, selling more than 40 million copies.

1983

Writer Alice Walker receives the Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple.

1983

Harold Washington wins the Democratic nomination by upsetting incumbent Mayor Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley and is elected the first African-American mayor of Chicago.1983 Civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson announces his intention to run for the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first African-American to make a serious bid for the presidency.1984 The Cosby Show, starring comedian Bill Cosby, becomes one of the most popular situation comedies in television history and is praised for its broad cross-cultural appeal and avoidance of racial stereotypes.

1986

Playwright August Wilson receives the Pulitzer Prize for Fences, winning it again for The Piano Lesson in 1990. Both are from his cycle of plays chronicling the black American experience.

1987

Basketball forward Julius Erving, noted for his balletic leaps toward the basket and climactic slam dunks, retires after becoming the third professional player to score a career total of

30,000 points.

1989

President George Bush nominates Colin Powell chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, making him the first black officer to hold the highest military post in the United States.

1989

Modern dancer Judith Jamison becomes the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, following Ailey's death.

1990

John Edgar Wideman becomes the first author to twice receive the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, for his novels Sent for You Yesterday (1983) and Philadelphia Fire (1990).

1990

Author Walter Mosley publishes his first novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, which introduces the enduring character of "Easy" Rawlins, an unwilling amateur detective from the Watts section of Los Angeles in 1948.

1990

Jazz drummer Art Blakey dies. Since founding the Jazz Messengers in 1954, he is responsible for nurturing generations of young jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown, Jackie McLean, and Lee Morgan.

1991

The Senate votes 52-48 to confirm the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court following charges of sexual harassment by former aide Anita Hill during confirmation hearings.

1991

With much fanfare, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is appointed W.E.B. Du Bois professor of humanities at Harvard University, where he proceeds to build the university's Department of Afro-American Studies.

1992

Riots break out in Los Angeles, sparked by the acquittal of four white police officers caught on videotape beating Rodney King, a black motorist. The riots cause at least 55 deaths and $1 billion in damage.

1992

West Indian poet and playwright Derek Walcott receives the Nobel Prize for Literature.

1992 Author Terry McMillan publishes Waiting to Exhale, which follows four middle-class women, each of whom is looking for the love of a worthy man. The book's wild popularity leads to a film adaptation.

1992

Mae Jemison becomes the first African-American woman astronaut, spending more than a week orbiting Earth in the space shuttle Endeavour.

1992

Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, representing the state of Illinois.

1993

Poet Maya Angelou, author of the autobiographical work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), composes and delivers a poem for the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

1993

Cornel West, progressive postmodern philosopher, finds a mainstream audience with the publication of his text Race Matters, which closely examines the black community around the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

1993

Poet Rita Dove, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas and Beulah, is chosen as poet laureate of the United States.

1993

Writer Toni Morrison, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Beloved, receives the Nobel Prize for Literature.1995 In one of the most celebrated criminal trials in American history, former running back O.J.

Ronald Goldman.1995

Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, rises to the height of his influence as the most prominent organizer of the "Million Man March" of African-American men in Washington, D.C.1996 At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., sprinter Michael Johnson becomes the first man to win gold medals in the 200 metres and the 400 metres, setting a 200-metre world record of 19.32 seconds.1997

Michael Jordan, often considered the greatest all-around player in the history of basketball,

leads the Chicago Bulls to their fifth championship.