Some Black History Info...

To me, "Black History" is every month, not just in February.

Here's alittle factoid: "Black History Month" wasn't picked to be in February because it's the shortest month of the year, as some people have claimed. It originally started out as a week-long celebration of Black (or for the "politically-correct" out there, "African-American") achievement. It was started by Historian Dr. Carter Woodson in 1926 for the week starting on President Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (2/12) and ending on Abolitionist Frederick Douglass's Birthday (2/20). From there, it gradually became a month-long celebration.

Now that I told you how it started, here's some fun "Black History Info" that I'll be writing in the blog ever now and again. Many of these quotes I received from "The New York Times" daily newsletter. For some more info on "Black History," check out this website here: www.blackhistory.com

Black History Tidbits:

1) On March 6, 1857, in its Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court held that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in a federal court.

2) On Sept. 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of Jan. 1, 1863.

3) On Jan. 31, 1865, the House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery.

4) On Feb. 25, 1870, Hiram R. Revels, R-Miss., became the first Black member of the United States Senate as he was sworn in to serve out the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis.

5) On April 10, 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals.

6) On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, which declared that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.

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More to come in the future!