This Week In Black History October 16-22, 2024

Painting of George Washington Williams addressing the Ohio State Legislature. Williams was the first African-American elected to the Ohio State Legislature, serving one term 1880 to 1881. Bob Hall from Christchurch, New Zealand Wikipedia OCTOBER 16 1849—The man considered the first Black historian in America is born. His name was George Washington Williams. He was also the first Afri­can American to serve in the Ohio legislature. He died in Blackpool, En­gland, in August 1891. 1855—John Mercer Langston, probably the first Black elected to public office in America—wins the race for Clerk of the Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio. 1876—Race riot in Cainhoy, S.C., leaves five Whites and one Black dead. 1895—The nation’s leading African American medical group—National Medical Association—is founded in Atlanta, Ga. 1901—Booker T. Washington be­comes the first Black leader to dine at the White House with the pres­ident when Theodore Roosevelt invites him. Some Black leaders charge Washington’s invitation was a result of his policies which they charge tended to accommodate rac­ism. Nevertheless, the invitation and dinner served to crown Washington as the Black leader of the period. & 1917—One of the most unsung he­roes of the Civil Rights Movement, Fannie Lou Hamer, is born in Mont­gomery County,...