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 |
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May |
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1 | Howard University in Washington, D.C., opened in 1867. |
17 | Brown vs. Board of Education made "Separate But Equal" in public schools unconstitutional in 1954. |
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2 | Elijah McCoy, inventor and holder of over fifty patents was born in 1844. |
18 | Reggie Jackson, baseball player, was born in 1946. |
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3 |
Sugar Ray Robinson, middleweight boxing champion was born in 1920. |
19 | Malcolm X was born in 1925. |
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4 | Freedom Rides began in 1961. Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld "Separate But Equal" doctrine in 1896. |
20 |
Robert N. C. Nix was elected to United States Congress in 1958 |
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5 | Gwendolyn Brooks became the first Black person awarded a Pulitzer Prize, for Annie Allen, in 1950. |
21 |
Lowell W. Perry was confirmed as chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1975. |
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6 |
Civil Rights Act signed by President Eisenhower in 1960. |
22 |
Claude McKay, poet, died in 1948. |
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7 | J.R. Winters patented the fire escape, 1878. |
23 | Bob Marley, reggae legend, dies in 1981. |
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8 |
Rev. Henry McNeal Turner died in 1915. |
24 | Hal McRae was named manager of the Kansas City Royals in 1991. Patti LaBelle was born in 1944. |
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9 |
Slaves in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina were freed, 1862. |
25 |
Madame C. J. Walker, entrepreneur, died in 1919. Miles Davis, jazz musician, born in 1926. |
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10 |
P.B.S. Pinchback, first Black state governor, born, 1837. |
26 | Althea Gibson won the French Open, becoming the first Black tennis player to win a major tennis title, 1956. |
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11 |
Dancer Martha Graham was born in 1854. |
27 | Louis Gossett, Jr, actor, born in 1936. |
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12 | Robert Smalls seized Confederate warship in 1862. |
28 | Eliza Ann Gardner, underground railroad conductor, born, 1831. |
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13 | Joe Louis was born in 1914. |
29 | Thomas Bradley was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1973. |
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14 | In 1804 a slave known only as York accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition. |
30 | Countee Cullen, poet, was born in 1903. |
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15 | Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, founded at Indiana University, was incorporated in 1911. |
31 | NAACP held first conference (as the National Negro Committee), in 1909. |
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16 |
Sammy Davis, Jr., died in 1990 |
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