FEBRUARY

February 1, 1865 – teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer and abolitionist John S. Rock became the first black person to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court

February 1, 1871 – Jefferson Long of Georgia became the first Black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives. He opposed leniency to former Confederates.

February 1, 1902 – activist and poet James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri

February 1, 1960  – Greensboro Sit-in was started by Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil  when they sat at the "White only" lunch counter at a F.W. Woolworth's store. 

February 2, 1862  – the District of Columbia abolishes slavery

February 3, 1874  – Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to a full six year term in the U.S. Senate. He was just the second black person to serve in the Senate.

February 3, 1948  – Rosa Lee Ingram and her sons (aged 14 and 16) are sentenced to death for the alleged murder of a white Georgia man. Ingram said that she and her sons acted in self-defense after her neighbor attacked her. They were found guilty by an all white, all-male jury. 

February 3, 1956  – Autherine J. Lucy became the first black student to attend the University of Alabama. The white students rioted causing the University to suspend her "for her own safety".

February 4, 1913  – civil rights activist Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama

February 5, 1866  – Congressman Thaddeus Stevens offered an amendment to Freedmen's Bureau bill authorizing the distribution of public land and confiscated land to freedmen and loyal refugees in forty acre lots.  Unfortunately the measure was defeated in the House by a vote of 126 to 37.

February 5, 1934  – Baseball legend Henry "Hank" Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama

February 6, 1950  – singer, songwriter, and actress Natalie Cole was born in Los Angeles, California

February 7, 1926  – historian Carter G. Woodson creates Negro History Week. In 1976 it becomes Black History Month

February 8, 1831  – Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born in Delaware. Crumpler was the first black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

February 9, 1944  – writer Alice Walker was born Eatonton, Georgia

February 10, 1907  – civil rights activist and politician Grace Towns Hamilton was born in Atlanta, Georgia

February 11, 1783  – preacher Jarena Lee was born in Cape May, New Jersey. Lee is considered to be the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church

February 11, 1976  – Clifford Alexander Jr is confirmed as the first black secretary of the Army

February 12, 1793  – Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Law to implement the provisions in the Constitution. It stated that to reclaim an escaped slave a master needed only to go before a magistrate and provide oral or written proof of ownership. The magistrate would then issue an order for the arrest of the slave. The slave was not given a trial in court or allowed to present evidence on their own behalf, including proof of having previously earned their freedom.

February 12, 1865  – Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, a former slave and now pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., became the first African American to speak in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. His sermon "Let the Monster Perish" was delivered within days of Congress' adoption of the 13th Amendment.

February 12, 1909  – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Lillian Ward, and Henry Moskowitz

February 12, 1934  – NBA legend Bill Russell is born in West Monroe, Louisiana

February 13, 1635  – The first public school in America is opened in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Latin School excludes blacks from attending.

February 14, 1760  – Bishop Richard Allen born in Delaware. Allen was born enslaved on the property of Benjamin Chew. He would later found the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

February 14, 1817  – abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass may have been born on this date on a Maryland plantation. His exact birthdate is unknown.

February 17, 1934  – NFL Legend James "Jim" Brown was born in St. Simons, Georgia

February 17, 1942  – activist and co-founder of the Black Panther Party Huey Percy Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana

February 17, 1963  – NBA Legend Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York

February 18, 1931  – novelist Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio

February 19, 1940  – singer and songwriter William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr was born in Detroit, Michigan

February 19, 1942  – The Army Air Corps' all African American 100th Pursuit Squadron, later designated a fighter squadron, was activated at Tuskegee Institute. The squadron served honorably in England and in other regions of the European continent during World War II.

February 21, 1933  – singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist Nina Simone was born in Tryon, North Carolina

February 21, 1936  – lawyer, educator, and politician Barbara Jordan is born in Houston, Texas

February 21, 1940  – civil rights activist, founder of SNCC, and politician John Lewis was born near Troy, Alabama

February 21, 1965  – Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City, New York

February 22, 1989  – DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince win the first rap Grammy award for their single "Parents Just Don't Understand"

February 23, 1868  – sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts

February 23, 1979  – Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first black general in the United States Marine Corps

February 24, 1811  – Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne was born in Charleston, South Carolina

February 25, 1870  – Hiram R. Revels was sworn in as a Senator from Mississippi. He became the first black person to serve in congress.

February 25, 1914  – civil rights activist James Cameron was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin

February 26, 1925  – civil rights activist Robert F. Williams was born in Monroe, North Carolina

February 26, 1928  – singer Antoine Caliste "Fats" Domino was born in New Orleans, Louisiana

February 27, 1897  – singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania