Black History, Sports
At the 1988 Olympic trials, while outfitted in a one-legged purple track suit and sporting four inch fingernails, she set a world record in the 100 meters, running it at 10.49 seconds, knocking more than a quarter of a second off her best-ever time despite not even being one of the country’s best in the event a year earlier.
Flo Jo at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988
Florence Delorez Griffith grew up in a housing project in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles as the seventh of eleven children. From an early age, Griffith enjoyed competition and sought attention. She held handstand competitions, rode around on a unicycle, designed unique clothes for her Barbie doll, wore strange hairdos and owned a trained pet rat. And she was fast. Florence’s father often told a story about taking the kids to the nearby Mojave Desert when she was five and challenging them to chase jackrabbits. Florence caught one. “Jackrabbit” became her nickname.
By age 7, she was competing in track. In high school, she set records in sprints and the long jump. Following graduation, she competed at Cal State Northridge under the legendary sprint coach Bob Kersee and helped them win the national championship in 1978. (more…)
Black History, Entertainment
WGPR-TV Detroit
WGPR-TV (Where God’s Presence Radiates) was the first television station in the United States owned and operated by African Americans. The station, located in Detroit, Michigan, was founded by William Venoid Banks. WGPR-TV marketed toward the urban audience in Detroit, Michigan, which in that market meant programming for the African American community.
WGPR-TV first aired on September 29, 1975 on channel 62 in Detroit, Michigan. Station founder William Venoid Banks was a Detroit attorney, minister and prominent member of the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, an organization he founded in 1950. The Masons owned the majority of stock in WGPR-TV. The station initially broadcast religious shows, R&B music shows, off-network dramas, syndicated shows and older cartoons. (more…)
Black History, Civil Rights
Mary Church TerrellMary Church was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on 23rd September, 1863. Both her parents, Robert Church and Louisa Ayers, were both former slaves. Robert was the son of his white master, Charles Church.
During the Memphis race riots in 1866 Mary’s father was shot in the head and left for dead. He survived the attack and eventually became a successful businessman. He speculated in the property market and was considered to be the wealthiest black man in the South.
Mary was an outstanding student and after graduating from Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1884, she taught at a black secondary school in Washington and at Wilberforce College in Ohio. Through her father, Mary met Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. She was especially close to Douglass and worked with him on several civil rights campaigns. (more…)
Black History, Science
Alfred Oscar Coffin
Although he was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in a field of the biological sciences, Alfred Oscar Coffin ended his career as Professor of Romance Languages at Langston University in Oklahoma. Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi on May 14, 1861, Coffin earned his bachelor’s degree at Fisk University and his master’s and Ph.D. in biology at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1889. Beginning in 1887, Coffin taught for two years at Alcorn Agricultural & Mechanical College in Mississippi.
From 1889 to 1895 he was Professor of Mathematics and Romance Language at Wiley University in Marshall, Texas where he found time to write a treatise on the native plants there. Back at Alcorn A&M from 1895 to 1898 he worked as the campus disbursement agent. From 1898 to 1909 Coffin was a public school principal in San Antonio, Texas and in Kansas City, Missouri. (more…)
Black History, Education
ASLAH
Established on September 9, 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, we are the Founders of Black History Month and carry forth the work of our founder, the Father of Black History.
We continue his legacy of speaking a fundamental truth to the world–that Africans and peoples of African descent are makers of history and co-workers in what W. E. B. Du Bois called, “The Kingdom of Culture.” ASALH’s mission is to create and disseminate knowledge about Black History, to be, in short, the nexus between the Ivory Tower and the global public. We labor in the service of Blacks and all humanity.
VISION
The vision of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History is to be the premier Black Heritage learned society with a strong network of national and international branches and partners whose diverse and inclusive membership will continue the Woodson legacy.
MISSION
The mission of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH®) is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community.
STRUCTURE
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH®) is head-quartered in Washington, D.C., temporarily 301 Rhode Island Ave, NW in Washington, DC. The Association operates as local, state, and international branches promoting greater knowledge of African American history through a program of education, research, and publishing.
Activities:
- Sets the annual theme for Black History Month. Establish Annual Black History Theme
- Publish Annual Black History Theme Learning Resource Package
- Sponsor annual Black History Kick-Off Events
- Host Annual Convention and Black History Month Luncheon
- Establish, nurture and grow ASALH Branches, including campus-based branches & youth guilds.
- Manage professional Speaker’s Bureau
- Establish national and local Partnerships
- Host Essay Contest for undergraduate and graduate students
- Promote oral, public and local history projects
- Commemorate the birth of our founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson
More Information: https://asalh.org/
