Today in Black History - July 5 *
1852 - At a meeting sponsored by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-
Slavery Society, in Rochester Hall, Rochester, New
York, Frederick Douglass illustrates the full shame
of slavery, delivering a speech that takes aim at
the pieties of the nation -- the cherished memories
of its revolution, its principles of liberty, and its
moral and religious foundation. The Fourth of July,
a day celebrating freedom, is used by Douglass to
remind his audience of liberty's unfinished business.
"What to the American Slave is Your Fourth of July?":
"To him your celebration is a sham...to cover up
crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.
There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices
more shocking and bloody than are the people of the
United States at this very hour." The text of this
speech can be seen on the Information Man's web site
http://www.informationman.com/douglass.htm .
1892 - Andrew Beard is issued patent number 478,271 for his
rotary engine.
1899 - Anna Arnold (later Hedgeman) is born in Marshalltown,
Iowa. Hedgeman will be the first African American
woman to serve in the cabinet of a New York City mayor
(1954), a special projects coordinator for the
Commission on Religion and Race of the National Council
of Churches, and recruiter of 40,000 Protestant
churchmen to participate in the 1963 March on Washington.
1913 - Smiley Lewis is born in Dequincy, Louisiana. He will
become a rhythm and blues vocalist and best known for his
song, "I Hear You Knockin'." He will join the ancestors
on October 7, 1966 after succumbing to stomach cancer.
1947 - The first African American baseball player in the American
League joins the lineup of the Cleveland Indians. Larry
Doby plays his first game against the Chicago White Sox.
He will play for both the Indians and the White Sox
during his 13-year, major-league career.
1949 - The New York Giants purchase the contracts of Monty Irvin
& Henry Thompson, their first African American players.
1966 - Three nights of race rioting in Omaha, Nebraska, result
in the calling out of the National Guard.
1969 - Tom Mboya, Economics Minister, joins the ancestors after
being assassinated in Narobi, Kenya.
1975 - Arthur Ashe becomes the first African American to win the
Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship when he defeats
Jimmy Conners.
1975 - The Cape Verde Islands gain independence after 500 years
of Portuguese rule.
1975 - Forty persons are injured in racial disturbances in Miami,
Florida.
1989 - Barry Bond's home run sets father-son (Bobby) HR record at
408.
1990 - Zina Garrison upsets Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon semi-
finals.
1994 - In an attempt to halt a surge of Haitian refugees, the
Clinton administration announces it is refusing entry to
new Haitian boat people.
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle, edited by Rene' A. Perry.