On February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of Abraham
Lincoln’s birth, a group that included African American
leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett
announced the formation of a new organization.
Called the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, it would have a profound effect on the
struggle for civil rights and the course of 20th-century
American history.
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982)
On February 9, 1971, pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige became the
first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball
Hall of Fame.
In August of that year, Paige, a pitching legend known for his
fastball, showmanship and the longevity of his playing career,
which spanned five decades, was inducted. Joe DiMaggio (‘’the
Yankee Clipper”) once called Paige “the best and fastest pitcher
I’ve ever faced.”
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (1914 – 1999)
The first organized immigration of freeborn Black Americans to
Africa from the United States departed New York harbor on a
journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa.
The immigration was largely the work of the American Colonization Society, a U.S. organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to
return formerly enslaved African people to Africa.
However, the expedition was also partially funded by the U.S.
Congress, which in 1819 had appropriated $100,000 to be used
in returning displaced Africans, illegally brought to the United
States after the abolishment of the slave trade in 1808, to Africa.
Depiction of African American refugees from Arkansas
awaiting transportation to Liberia at the Mount Olivet
Baptist Chapel in New York City.
Government offices will be closed on Monday, Jan. 20,
in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The federal holiday is designated as a national day of
service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and
improve their communities, according to the National
Museum of African American History and Culture.
President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill
into law on Nov. 2, 1983, thus designating the third
Monday in January a federal holiday in observance of
civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, according
to the museum.
The U.S. Postal Service, banks and stock markets will
also be closed on Jan. 20, however most restaurants,
grocery stores and retail stores will remain open.
President Ronald Reagan signing the MLK Holiday
Bill 1983.
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta,
Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. King received a doctorate
degree in theology and in 1955 helped organize the first major
protest of the African American civil rights movement: the
successful Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, he advocated civil disobedience
and nonviolent resistance to segregation in the South. The
peaceful protests he led throughout the American South were
often met with violence, but King and his followers persisted,
and the movement gained momentum.
Martin Luther King Jr.
(born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
