Image Ownership: Public Domain By the time the U.S. entered World War I, black soldiers and white Texas civilians had a history of hostile relations dating back more than fifty years. At Camp Logan, men with the Third Battalion of the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry … Read MoreHouston Mutiny of 1917
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, the largest Black-owned insurance company in the west, was founded by William Nickerson, Jr., Norman Oliver Houston, and George Allen Beavers, Jr. On July 23, 1925, they opened as the Golden State Guarantee Fund Insurance Company in a one-room … Read MoreGolden State Mutual Life Insurance Company
U.S. Supreme Court SMITH v. ALLWRIGHT, 321 U.S. 649 (1944) 321 U.S. 649 SMITH v. ALLWRIGHT, Election Judge, et al. No. 51. Reargued Jan. 12, 1944. Decided April 3, 1944. As Amended June 12, 1944. Rehearing Denied May 8, 1944. See … Read More(1944) Smith v. Allwright
HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF TEXAS Galveston, Texas June 19, 1865 The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with the proclamation from the executive of the United States. All slaves are free. This involves absolute personal rights, and rights of property between former masters and … Read More(1865) The Texas Emancipation Proclamation
February 2, 1848 In the name of Almighty God The United States of America and the United Mexican States animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the calamities of the war which unhappily exists between the two Republics and to establish Upon … Read More(1848) Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The unusual academic career of Rufus Paul Turner, born on Christmas Day 1907, was foreshadowed when the then 15-year-old Houston, Texas native began experimenting with crystal devises. At age 17 he wrote the first of his nearly 3,000 articles, mostly having to do with radio … Read MoreRufus P. Turner (1907-1982)
The great-grandson of slaves, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas, on March 23, 1938. His father, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Sr., was a leading figure in the 1930s campaign for black voting rights in Dallas and a founder of Democratic Progressive Voter’s League … Read MoreMaynard H. Jackson Jr. (1938-2003)
Olympic athlete and scientist James Ellis Lu Valle was born in San Antonio, Texas on November 10, 1912 but grew up in Los Angeles where he made use of a library card even before entering elementary school. Academics was always uppermost in his mind despite … Read MoreJames E. Lu Valle (1912-1993)
Vivian Osborne Marsh was a community activist and government official, becoming one of the most influential African Americans in the San Francisco area. She was born in Houston, Texas, on September 5, 1897. When she applied to the University of California Berkeley, because of her … Read MoreVivian Osborne Marsh (1897-1986)
Thomas J. “Tom” Bradley, five-term Mayor of Los Angeles and the first major black candidate for Governor of California, was born in Calvert, Texas, on December 29, 1917, the son of Lee Thomas Bradley, a railroad porter, and Crenner Bradley, a maid. He was the … Read MoreTom Bradley (1917-1998)
