Thank you to Principal's Student Council Members Helen Nelson, Johan Dabare, James Whitney IV, Naomi Grant, and Natalia Galarza for creating and sharing these inspiring and informative videos!
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Hello, PHS, my name is James Whitney IV. I am a sophomore from the Principal-Student council. As we observe the 3rd week of Black History Month, remember this year theme “Cherishing Our Community.” Tyler Perry once said “It's not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place, because it frees you.” This quote gives everyone something to think about as we observe Black History Month and cherish our community.
Week 4
Hello PHS, my name is Naomi Grant, and I am a 9th grader on the Principal-Student Council. As we observe the 4th week of Black History Month, remember this year's theme "Cherishing Our Community." Kamala Harris once said - "If you are fortunate to have opportunity, it is your duty to make sure other people have those opportunities as well." This quote gives everyone something to think about as we observe Black History Month and cherish our community.
“Cherishing Our Community” …….on this day in Black History
Week 1:
On this day in Black History- February 1
On this day in 1865 – Boston Attorney John Rock the first black attorney that was admitted to argue in the US Supreme Court. John Rock was credited with coning the phrase “Black is Beautiful”
On this day in 1865 The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted by the 38th Congress which abolished slavery.
On this day in 1960- Four black students form North Carolina A&T College started Sit-in movement at Woolworth in Greensboro, NC. By February 10 movement had spread to fifteen Southern cities in five states. The Greensboro sit-ins are considered one of the biggest events of the Civil Rights Movement and set the standard for modern nonviolent protest and resistance.
On this day in 1965-Alabama officials arrested 700 Blacks as they demonstrated against the state’s voter registration requirements in Selma
On this day in 1998- Lillian E. Fishburne, the first African American woman to become a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy,
On this day in Black History - February 2
On this day in 1839-Edmond Berger patented the spark plug
On this day in 1897- Alfred L. Cralle invented the ice cream scooper
On this day in 1935- Anne Raven Wilkson was born. She was the 1st African American Woman to receive a full time dance contract with a major ballet company, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo of New York City.
On this day 1948- President Truman sent Congress a special message urging adoption of civil rights program, including a fair employment practices commission and anti-lynching and anti- poll tax measures.
On this day 2009- Eric Holder became 1st African American to be named Attorney General of the United States
On this day in Black History- February 3
On this day in 1926- Reginald Lewis was born on this day in Baltimore, Maryland. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1968. He was a partner, Thropes & Lewis, the first black law firm on Wall Street. In 1989 he became president and CEO of TLC Beatrice International Food Company, Lewis became the head of the largest black-owned business in the US. TLC Beatrice had revenues of $1.54 billion in 1992.
On this day in 1903 - Jack Johnson wins the Negro Heavyweight title.
On this day in 1920 - The Negro Baseball League is founded.
On this day in 1965 - Geraldine McCullough, sculptor, wins the Widener Gold Medal Award
On this day in Black History- February 4
On this day in 1913 - Rosa Parks (born Rosa Louise McCauley) was born on this day.
On this day in 1971 - National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington, N.C. Two persons killed.
On this day in 1996 - J. C. Watts becomes the first Black selected to respond to a State of the Union Address.
On this day in Black History- February 5:
On this day in 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 40- acre lots.
On this day in 1958 - Clifton R. Wharton Sr. confirmed as minister to Rumania. This career diplomat was the first Black to head a U.S. embassy in Europe.
On this day in 1962 - Suit seeking to bar Englewood, N.J., from maintaining "racial segregated" elementary schools filed in U.S. District Court.
On this day in 1990- Barack Obama Columbia University graduate &Harvard University law student became the 1stAfrican American named president of Harvard Law Review
Week 2
On this day in Black History- February 8:
On this day in 1944 - Harry S. McAlphin, first African American to be accredited to attend the White House press conference.
On this day in 1985- Brenda Renee Pearson an official court reporter for the House of Representatives was the first black female to record the State of the Union message delivered by the president in the House chambers.
On this day in 1986 -Figure skater Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the Women’s Singles of the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship competition
On this day in 1986 - Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.
On this day in Black History - February 9:
On this day in 1944 - Novelist Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Ga.
On this day in 1952 - Author Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man wins the National Book Award.
On this day in 1971 - Leroy "Satchel" Paige is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
On this day in 1995 - Bernard Harris, African American astronaut, takes spacewalk.
On this day in Black History - February 10:
On this day in 1927 - Leontyne Price, who became an internationally acclaimed opera singer, was born in Laurel, Miss.
On this day in 1940- singer Roberta Flack was born
On this day in 1964 - After 12 days of debate and voting on 125 amendments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by a vote of 290-130.
On this day in 1966 - Economist Andrew Brimer is appointed to the Federal Reserve Board.
On this day in Black History- February 11:
On this day in 1961 - Robert Weaver sworn in as administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, highest federal post to date by a black American.
On this day in 1976 - Clifford Alexander Jr. confirmed as the first black secretary of the United States
On this day in 1990 –Nelson Mandela is released from prison.
On this day in Black History - February 12:
On this day in 1865 - Henry Highland Garnet, first black to speak in the Capitol, delivered memorial sermon on the abolition of slavery at services in the House of Representatives.
On this day in 1908Heavyweight Champ: Jack Johnson became the first African American man to hold the World Heavyweight Champion boxing title. He held onto the belt until 1915.
On this day in 1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. The call for the organizational meeting was issued on 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth by 47 whites and six blacks.
On this day in 1948 - First Lt. Nancy C. Leftneant became the first black accepted in the regular Army Nursing Corps.
Born on this day in 1965 the first African American late night talk show host, Arsenio Hall
Week 3
On this day in Black History - February 16:
On this day in 1857 - Frederick Douglass elected President of Freeman Bank and Trust.
On this day in 1923 - Bessie Smith makes her first recording, "Down Hearted Blues, which sells 800,000 copies for Columbia Records
On this day in 1951 - New York City Council passes a bill prohibiting racial discrimination in city-assisted housing developments.
On this day in Black History - February 17:
On this day in 1870 - Congress passed resolution readmitting Mississippi on condition that it would never change its constitution to disenfranchise blacks.
On this day in 1963 - Michael Jeffrey Jordan, famed basketball player and former minor
league baseball player, born in New York, N.Y.
On this day in 1997 - Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," a tune that glorified slavery.
On this day in Black History - February 18:
On this day in 1688 - First formal protest against slavery by organized white body in English America made by Germantown Quakers at monthly meeting.
On this day in 1865 - Rebels abandoned Charleston. First Union troops to enter the city included twenty-first U.S.C.T., followed by two companies of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers.
Born this day in 1931 –Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford), for her novel Beloved.
On this day in 1965- Civil Rights Activist Jammie Lee Jackson was killed during a demonstration as he tried to protect his mother & grandfather.
On this day in Black History - February 19:
On this day in 1919 - Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. DuBois, met at the Grand Hotel, Paris. There were 57 delegates- -16 from the United States and 14 from Africa as well as others from 16 countries and colonies.
Born on this day in 1940 singer Smokey Robison
On this day in 1992 the first African American and the youngest ever film-maker to be nominated for the best director John Singleton for “Boyz N the Hood” Academy Award
Week 4
On this day in Black History - February 22:
Born in this day in 1841- Grafton Tyler Brown was the first black lithographer & painter who devoted himself to depicting scenes of the Pacific Northwest and the West.
Born on this day in 1888- In West Chester, Pennsylvania, African American painter Horace Pippin. He is considered one of the major American painters of his period. One of his more significant works, "John Brown Going to His Hanging," is owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
On this day in 1989- 1st Grammy Award for Best Rap Song “Parents Just Don’t Understand”
On this day in Black History - February 23:
On this day in 1965 - Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a black woman in a major American city.
On this day in 1979 - Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first black general in the Marine Corps.
On this day in Black History- February 24:
On this day in 1864 - Rebecca Lee became the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree
On this day in Black History - February 25:
On this day in 1870 - Herman R. Revels of Mississippi was sworn in as first black U.S. Senator and first black Representative in Congress.
On this day in 1948 - Martin Luther King was ordained as a Baptist minister.
On this day in 1971 - President Nixon met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and appointed a White House panel to study a list of recommendations made by the group.
On this day in Black History - February 26:
On this day in 1869 - Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote sent to the states for ratification.
On this day in 1926 - Carter G. Woodson started Negro History Week. This week would later become Black History Month.
On this day in 1966 - Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson
On this day in 2020- Ramona Hood becomes first African American CEO for Fedex.