Did you know that many of the products we use every day were created by black people? Here’s a list of 15 Untold Black History Inventors That you may not have learned about in school.
Tag Archives: Black History
Buffalo Soldiers
Buffalo soldiers were African American soldiers who mainly served on the Western frontier following the American Civil War. In 1866, six all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments were created after Congress passed the Army Organization Act. Their main tasks were to help control the Native Americans of the Plains, capture cattle rustlers and thieves and protect settlers, stagecoaches, wagon trains and railroad crews along the Western front.
How ‘Race Records’ Turned Black Music Into Big Business
In 1926, a self-taught musician named Big Bill Broonzy found his way to Chicago. A sharecropper turned soldier, he had left Mississippi and headed north to escape the pervasive racism of the Jim Crow South along with thousands of others of African-Americans in the Great Migration. Like many other black men, he worked as a janitor and a Pullman porter and a cook. But when he found himself in front of a microphone in a recording studio, the blues musician knew he had found his niche. Continue reading How ‘Race Records’ Turned Black Music Into Big Business
Meet Elizabeth Freeman, the First Enslaved Woman to Sue for Her Freedom—and Win
In 1780, the proclamation “all men are born free and equal,” rang out from the central square in the small town of Sheffield in western Massachusetts. The line was from the state’s newly ratified constitution, read aloud for a proud public to hear. America’s war for independence was raging and, like the rest of the burgeoning country, the town was gripped by revolutionary fever. Continue reading Meet Elizabeth Freeman, the First Enslaved Woman to Sue for Her Freedom—and Win
Black Codes
Black codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force after slavery was abolished during the Civil War. Though the Union victory had given some 4 million slaves their freedom, the question of freed blacks’ status in the postwar South was still very much unresolved. Under black codes, many states required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts; if they refused, they risked being arrested, fined and forced into unpaid labor. Outrage over black codes helped undermine support for President Andrew Johnson and the Republican Party. Continue reading Black Codes
A Visual History of Iconic Black Hairstyles
For centuries black communities around the world have created hairstyles that are uniquely their own. These hairstyles span all the way back to the ancient world and continue to weave their way through the social, political and cultural conversations surrounding black identity today. Continue reading A Visual History of Iconic Black Hairstyles
Charlotte E. Ray’s Brief But Historic Career as the First U.S. Black Woman Attorney
Martha Gadley’s marriage was a nightmare. When her husband drank, he turned increasingly violent. One night, he used an ax to chop a hole in the floor and threatened to push her into the room below. He refused to bring her water when she was sick. When she left the house, he nailed up the entrance and put padlocks on the door. Continue reading Charlotte E. Ray’s Brief But Historic Career as the First U.S. Black Woman Attorney
The Fat Cat Collective 