Today in Black History 04/16/2010

*               Today in Black History - April 16           *

1862 - Slavery is abolished in Washington, DC, and $993,407 in
    compensation is paid to slave owners for their lost
    "property."

1868 - Louisiana voters approve a new constitution and elect
    state officers, including the first African American
    lieutenant governor, Oscar J. Dunn, and the first
    African American state treasurer, Antoine Dubuclet.  
    Article Thirteen of the new constitution bans
    segregation in public accommodation: "All the persons
    shall enjoy equal rights and privileges upon any
    conveyances of a public character; and all places of
    business, or of public resort, or for which a license
    is required by either State, Parish or municipal
    authority, shall be deemed places of a public
    character and shall be opened to the accommodation and
    patronage of all persons, without distinction or
    discrimination on account of race or color."

1869 - Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett is appointed Consul General
    to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the first African
    American to serve in a diplomatic position for the
    United States.  Bassett will hold the post for 12
    years.

1947 - Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. is born in New York City. 
    He will become one of the finest basketball players in
    history, first with UCLA, then with the Milwaukee Bucks
    and, from 1975 to his retirement in 1990, with the Los
    Angeles Lakers.  After  his conversion to Islam in
    1971, he will change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    early in his professional career. The all-time leading
    scorer in the NBA, he will lead the Lakers to five NBA
    championships, including back-to-back titles in 1987
    and 1988.

1962 - Three Louisiana segregationists are excommunicated by
    Archbishop Joseph Rummel for continuing their
    opposition to his order for integration of New Orleans
    parochial schools.

1965 - Maj. General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., assistant deputy
    chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, is named
    lieutenant general, the    highest rank attained by an
    African American to date in the armed services.

1973 - Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American
    female to be elected mayor of a U.S. city when she
    takes office in the small town of Taft, Oklahoma. She
    will hold the position for 13 years.

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