What’s New on BlackPast

During World War II, thirty African-American correspondents risked their lives reporting news home from the front-lines of the war. Covering the war took two forms. First, they were reporters of the combat between the Allies and the Axis. Concurrently, they reported on the treatment of … Read MoreDeton Brooks (1909-1975)

The Thibodaux Massacre took place in Thibodaux, Louisiana on November 23, 1887. Black sugar workers, determined to unionize for a living wage, chose to combine their minimal power during the crucial harvest season. Instead, their actions sparked a massacre. With echoes of the bondage their … Read MoreThe Thibodaux Massacre (November 23, 1887)

Fred “The Hammer” Williamson is an African American actor-director-writer-producer who built and sustained a long career as a black action hero from the “blaxploitation” era of the 1970s to well into the twenty-first century. Born on March 5, 1938 in Gary, Indiana to parents Frank … Read MoreFred Williamson (1938- )

In the article below, Dr. Uchenna Umeh, a former San Antonio, Texas physician, briefly describes how mental health among African Americans was viewed and treated by the American medical community from the antebellum period until today. In the process she describes how those attitudes have … Read MoreMental Illness in Black Community, 1700-2019: A Short History

Politician and educator Judson W. Lyons was born on August 15, 1858 in Burke County, Georgia. In 1871, his family moved to Augusta, Georgia where Lyons was educated at the Augusta Institute. Lyons got involved in Republican Party politics as a young man, being selected … Read MoreJudson W. Lyons (1858-1924)

Uptown Records, one of the earliest hip-hop labels, was founded in 1986. It signed artists such as Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, Heavy D and the Boyz, and Father M.C. Uptown Records was founded by Andre Harrell, a former member of the group Dr. Jackell and … Read MoreUptown Records (1986-1999)

Betty Jean Owens, an African-American woman and Florida A&M University student, was raped by four white men, William Collinsworth, Ollie Stoutamire, David Beagles, and Patrick Scarbourough, on May 2, 1959. Unlike most cases involving white men raping black women in the pre-1970 era, the four … Read MoreBetty Jean Owens (193?- ?)

The St. Louis Cardinals’ efforts at integration began in 1953, when brewing company Anheuser-Busch bought the franchise. Company chairman August A. Busch Jr. soon realized that no black players on the field, meant very few black faces in the crowd. To remedy the situation, he … Read MoreTom Alston (1926-1993)

American author and journalist Denene Millner was born on October 21, 1968. She grew up in Bay Shore, New York, raised by her adoptive parents, James and Bettye Millner. She earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Communications from Hofstra University in Long Island, New York … Read MoreDenene Millner (1968- )