African Americans replace reluctant whites on the field of battle due to rising white desertions in the Continental Army (1777). Monroe Baker, a well-to-do Black businessman, named mayor of St. Martin, Louisiana (1867). He was probably the first Black to serve as mayor of a town. First Reconstruction legislature met in Richmond, Virginia (1869). Booker […]

African American abolitionist David Walker born in Wilmington, North Carolina (1785). The Opelousas Massacre occurred in Louisiana in which an estimated 200 to 300 black Americans were killed (1868). “Purlie Victorious”, a farce by playwright Ossie Davis, opens on Broadway (1961). Governor Barnett found guilty of civil contempt of the federal court. United States Court […]