The Black Experience Project

Seton Hill University Black Presence Timeline: 1950s

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2020s

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first Black person to recieve the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Her work highlights Black life and culture.

Athletes Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd and Nathaniel Clifton become the first Black Americans to play in the NBA (National Basketball Association).

Sister Mary Reginald Carter becomes the fourth Black Seton Hill College graduate. She majored in French and minored in American history.

After it became known that couple Harvey and Johnetta Clark along with their children moved into an apartment in Cicero, Chicago, an estimated 4,000 white citizens rioted, causing them to quickly vacate. Their apartment was completely destroyed, and their valuable posessions were stolen. All events during and leading up to the riot were done without local police intervention, and even with their support.

The first issue of Jet magazine is published and is published by Johnson Publishing Company. The company was founded by John Harold Johnson, the founder of the popular Black magazine Ebony.

For the first time in over 70 years, the Tuskegee Institute reports that there are no reported lynchings in the United States. Though this groundbreaking information, it is important to consider that this does not mean no lynchings occurred, as many were unreported due to police and community involvement.

In Washington, D.C., segregation in public spaces is declared unconstitutional due to the Supreme Court's District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co., Inc. ruling.

The Baton Rouge Bus Boycott begins and lasts 6 days. Reverend T.J. Jemison calls for Black Americans in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to stop riding the city's busses, costing it thousands of dollars a day. In response to this, the buss company and the city of Baton Rouge agree to Ordinance 251, which allows Black patrons to sit wherever they'd like, excluding the first two rows which would be reserved for white passengers.

The Brown v. Board of Education decision deems public school segregation unconstitutional and a violation of the 14th Amendment. The case contradicted the "separate but equal" doctrine. Some states, however, resisted the decision.

14 year old Emmett Till is gruesomely murdered while visiting family in Money, Missouri after whistling at a white woman by her husband and brother. The murder gained publicity nationwide. Some publications reported it as an intolerable hate crime while others questioned whether or not it was a suicide after Till realized that he offended a white woman. Ultimately, the outrageous occurrance encouraged many young Black Americans to be active in the fight for civil rights.

Attorney Frankie Muse Freeman becomes the first Black woman to win a significant civil rights case. She acted as the lead attorney representing the NAACP in the Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority trial, which deemed racial discrimination in public housing unconstitutional in St. Louis, Missouri.

After Attorney General John Patterson bans the NAACP in Alabama, Black activists found the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in order to advocate for civil rights in the state.

Nat King Cole hosts The Nat King Cole Show on NBC and becomes the first Black person on national television to host a primetime show.

Civil rights leaders recognize the need for national organization in the approach to protest and assemblies. As a result of this, they found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Based in Atlanta, the group provided the unification and strategy necessary to plan and execute major protests.

Althea Gibson becomes the first Black woman to be named the Associated Press' Female Athlete of the Year.

Louis E. Lomax Joins WNTA-TV in New York City and becomes the first Black newscaster at a major news station in America.

Motown Records, the first Black-owned record label and an iconic pillar in the Black music community is founded. The label would produce stars like Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross.

Members of the Nashville Student Union attempt sit-ins at the lunch counters of department stores Harvey's and Caon-Sloan in November and December, kickstarting the Sit-In Movement.

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