Exploring Black History: Significant Events from October 15-21, 2025

**October 15** 1859—White minister and mystic John Brown orchestrates a violent revolt in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, aiming to ignite a Black rebellion against slavery. Although dozens of Whites perish, the insurrection is ultimately quelled. President Abraham Lincoln labeled him a “misguided fanatic,” yet Brown’s fervent disdain for slavery drove him to seek its abolition unreservedly. 1887—The U.S. Supreme Court rules the Civil Rights Act of 1885 unconstitutional, a decision influenced by the conclusion of Reconstruction, which heralded the onset of the Jim Crow era, stripping away the rights gained by Black individuals. 1991—Conservative Black jurist Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, continuing to spark controversy with his voting record among many Black leaders. **October 16** 1849—George Washington Williams, acknowledged as the first Black historian in the U.S., is born, later becoming the first African American in Ohio's legislature. 1855—John Mercer Langston secures his position as Clerk of Brownhelm Township, Ohio, likely the first African American elected to public office in America. 1876—A race riot in Cainhoy, South Carolina, claims the lives of five Whites and one Black individual. 1895—The National Medical Association, the foremost African American medical organization, is established in Atlanta,...