LITTLE KNOWN BLACK HISTORY FACT

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Fact #3: Allensworth is the first all-black Californian township, founded and financed by African Americans. Created by Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth in 1908, the town was built with the intention of establishing a self-sufficient city where African Americans could live their lives free of racial prejudice.

 

Fact #19: In 1938, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt challenged the segregation rules at the Southern Conference on Human Welfare in Birmingham, Alabama, so she could sit next to African-American educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Roosevelt would come to refer to Bethune as "her closest friend in her age group."

 

Fact #33: Thomas Andrew Dorsey, considered the "Father of Gospel Music," was known for his fusion of sacred words and secular rhythms. His most famous composition, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," was recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley and Mahalia Jackson.

 

Fact #40: Nancy Green, who was formerly enslaved, was employed in the 1890s to promote the Aunt Jemima brand by demonstrating the pancake mix at expositions and fairs. She was a popular attraction because of her friendly personality, storytelling skills and warmth. Green signed a lifetime contract with the pancake company, and her image was used for packaging and ads.

 

Fact #46: Jesse Jackson successfully negotiated the release of Lieutenant Robert O. Goodman Jr., an African-American pilot who had been shot down over Syria and taken hostage in 1983.