January

Events in history help complete the understanding of African American history. This month-by-month outline of historic dates relevant to South Carolina African American history offers readers a perspective that compliments the biographical data on African American leaders. This timeline view helps complete the picture of the African American impact on South Carolina history. 

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

January
Martin Luther King Day is celebrated on the third Monday.

1

New Year's Day
Emancipation Proclamation issued in 1863.

17

Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) born in 1942.

2

William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, in 1831.

18

Robert C. Weaver became first African-American presidential cabinet member in 1966.

3

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was elected chairperson of the House Committee on Education and Labor in 1961. 

19

Freed Blacks organized Savannah GA's first Baptist church, 1788.

4

Grace Bumbry, opera singer, was born, in 1937.

20

Barack Obama sworn in as the first African American President in 2009.

Barbara Jordan, congresswoman, was born in 1936.

5

George Washington Carver died in 1943.

21

Willam Brown-Chappell, pioneer aviator, born, 1906.

6

The World Anti-Slavery Convention opened in London, 1831.
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, famed musician, died, 1993.

22

Nat Turner, leader of the Virgina slave revolt was born in 1800.

7

Marian Anderson made her debut in the Metropolitan Opera House in 1955.

23

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, pioneer in surgery, founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, IL, in 1889.

8

Fannie M. Jackson, educator and first African-American woman college graduate in the US, was born, 1836.
Butterfly McQueen, actress, born in 1911.

24

Coach Clarence "Bighouse" Gaines won record 800th college basketball game in 1990.

9

Fisk University established in 1866.

25

Sojourner Truth addressed the first Black Women's Rights Convention, 1851.

10

Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded in 1957.

26

Bessie Coleman, first African-American woman aviator, born, 1893.
Angela Davis, activist, born, 1944.

11

Charles W. Anderson becomes first African-American member of the Kentucky Legislature, 1936.

27

Leontyne Price, world-renowed opera singer, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House, 1961.

12

The Congressional Black Caucus organized in 1971.

28

Ronald McNair, astronaut, died in Challenger explosion in 1986.

13

Don Barksdale became first African- American to play in an NBA All-Star Game in 1953.

29

Oprah Winfrey, entertainer, born in 1954.

14

John Oliver Killens, novelist, was born, 1916.

30

William Wells Brown, novelist and dramatist, published first Black drama, Leap to Freedom, 1858.

15

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929.

31

Jackie Robinson, first African-American baseball player in the major leagues was born in 1919.

16

Jefferson Franklin Long took oath of office as first African-American Congressman from Georgia, 1871.