George Edwin Taylor: First African American presidential candidate

taylorU.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) is generally noted as the first African American presidential candidate. Chisholm campaigned for the office in 1972 — 68 years after George Edwin Taylor ran as a candidate of the National Negro Liberty Party in 1904.

A journalist by trade, Taylor — who lived in Iowa — gained distinction, according to the Tacoma, Wash., Times on Aug. 17, 1904, as a leader in the Republican national convention of 1892, “to which he was an alternate delegate-at-large from his state. The next campaign he was delegate-at-large to the Democratic convention.”

During this period he rose to prominence in national black politics, acting as president of the National Colored Men’s Protective Association and the National Negro Democratic League and served high office in various other black organizations.

Historian David Broadnax explains to NPR that “given the fact that Taylor received fewer than 2,000 votes when he ran for president in 1904, it is hard to call him “the right man at the right time.” Another way to look at this is to ask why he in particular became the first African American to run for president; why did he do what Frederick Douglass, T. Thomas Fortune, Blanche K. Bruce, and other leading black politicians before him could or would not. Part of the irony of the situation is that Taylor’s marginal status may have made him more likely to be first.”

How a 12-Year Old Slave Revolutionized the Cultivation of Vanilla

Edmond_AlbiusEdmond Albius was born a slave but became an important figure in cultivation of vanilla. Albius was born in St. Suzanne, Reunion. His mother, a slave, died during his birth, and he never knew his father. Albius was adopted by his master, Féréol Bellier Beaumont. At the young age of 12, Albius invented a technique for pollinating vanilla orchids quickly and profitably. Albius’ technique revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla and made it possible to profitably grow vanilla beans away from their native Mexico.

Read about Albius here.

Barbara Jacket: Former PV track coach honored by SWAC Alumni Assn.

Ms. Jacket and Lonza Hardy, Jr., athletics director of University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, and SWAC Alumni Association Vice President.

Ms. Jacket and Lonza Hardy, Jr., athletics director of University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, and SWAC Alumni Association Vice President.

Legendary PVAMU track coach Barbara Jacket was among several honorees Monday evening (Dec. 7) for the annual Southwestern Athletic Conference Alumni Association Legends Awards Roast and Toast.

In addition to Jacket, who is also a former U. S. Olympic Women’s Track and Field Team coach, Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Dr. James Frank, Lawrence Collins and Tony Wyllie. Also, Mrs. Alyse Wells-Kilbert, recipient of the Charles “Chuck” Prophet Wagon Master Award, was honored for a job well done as an unsung laborer!

During her tenure at Prairie View, Jacket’s teams claimed eight NAIA outdoor titles, two indoor titles; won national titles in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics For Women (AIAW) and the U.S. Track & Field Federation; and 22 SWAC titles — eight cross country, nine indoor, and five outdoor.

Can a French Friar End the 21st-Century Slave Trade?

french friarFrom Vanity Fair: It’s 2015, and more than 20 million people are still held in some form of slavery all over the world. Traveling deep into the Amazon, writer William Langewiesche discovers why an unspeakable degradation is proving so hard to combat – and finds a man of God, Xavier Plassat, who has dedicated his life to the fight. Brazil was built by chattel slaves, including four million imported from Africa and untold numbers of native Indians.

Plassat is a friar of the Dominican order, a Frenchman who has worked for decades in the Brazilian Amazon and is renowned for his fight against slavery as it exists in our time. Modern slavery differs from classic chattel slavery, in which people are held as private property, but to the extent that it treats people as tools to be used and discarded, it is nearly as brutal and degrading. Currently it affects perhaps 20 million people, and probably many more. Relatively few are women tricked into prostitution; a greater number, men and women alike, are manual laborers in forests, fields, and factories, or at sea. It is possible to get caught up in the technicalities of definition. Those who rely on slaves for labor want as narrow a definition of “slavery” as possible. Brazil officially recognizes a broad definition, and for that reason it has made more progress against slavery than similar countries have. Still, in the Amazon alone tens of thousands of workers are enslaved at any given time.

Read the entire story here.

This Week In Texas Black History, Dec. 6-12

Calendar courtesy Texas Black History Preservation Project

13thammendmentpic26 – The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, was ratified by three-fourths of the states on this day in 1865, officially becoming part of the U.S. Constitution. The amendment declared that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” However, when the newly elected 11th Texas Legislature met in August 1866, the members refused to ratify either the 13th or 14th Amendment (granting citizenship to African Americans). The legislature wanted to return Texas as much as possible to the way it was before the war and restrict the rights of African Americans. Texas would not ratify the 13th amendment until February 18, 1870. Mississippi would be the last state to comply, ratifying the amendment in 1995, but the state didn’t officially notify the U.S. Archivist until 2012, when the ratification finally became official.

julius carter7Publisher Julius Carter was born this day in 1914 in Houston. Carter founded the Forward Times newspaper in 1960 when segregation was in full force in Houston. Carter realized his vision of the Forward Times becoming a voice for the city’s African-American community.

 

 

cottrell7 – Philanthropist and founder of Pro-Line Corporation, maker of black hair  products, Comer Cottrell, Jr., was born on this day in 1931 in Mobile, Alabama. Cottrell founded Pro-Line in Los Angeles in 1970, but relocated the business to Dallas in 1980. Pro-Line became the largest black-owned firm in the Southwest and one of the most profitable black companies in the United States. He is noted for popularizing the “Jheri curl” hairstyle. Cottrell became part owner of Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989, becoming the first African-American to hold such a stake in a Major League Baseball team and was also the first black member of the powerful Dallas Citizens Council.

Doris_Miller7 – On this day in 1941, Navy mess man Doris Miller, a Waco native was aboard the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Miller moved several wounded sailors to safety and then manned an anti-aircraft gun, for which he had no training (because the Navy limited black sailors to non-combat roles and menial duties), and fired at attacking planes. For his actions, Miller was the first African-American to be awarded the Navy’s second highest honor, the Navy Cross.

 

pickett_stamp9 – Taylor native Bill Pickett became the first African-American elected to the Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame on this day in 1971. Pickett is noted as the originator of “steer wresting” with his technique of “bulldogging” steers, during which Pickett would subdue unruly cows by jumping from his horse to the cow, wrestling him to the ground, then biting the creature’s lip. Pickett said he got the idea from watching dogs do the same thing when they were herding cows. Known as the “Dusky Demon,” Pickett has also been honored by the U.S. Postal Service as part of its “Legends of the West” series of commemorative stamps.

rubefoster39 – On this day in 1930, Calvert native Rube Foster, founder of baseball’s first successful all-black league, the Negro National League, died in Kankakee, Illinois. Known as the “Father of Black Baseball,” Foster was a star pitcher and manager for the Chicago American Giants, as well as league commissioner. The NNL, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., had teams in the South and Midwest including Texas teams such as the Austin Black Senators, Fort Worth Black Panthers, and the Houston Eagles. Foster was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Jacob Fontaine10 – This day marks the passing of Rev. Jacob Fontaine in 1898. Born in Arkansas, Fontaine was a Baptist minister, publisher, and community leader who came to Austin in 1839 with his owner, Rev. Edward Fontaine, who served as personal secretary for Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar. In 1867, Jacob Fontaine founded the First Baptist Church (Colored) on the same property where the Austin History Center now sits. In 1876, he established the Gold Dollar, one of the first black weekly newspapers in the South and the first newspaper under black ownership in Austin. He also participated in the founding of five African-American churches as well as the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association.

sumlin10 – On this day in 2011, Kevin Sumlin became the first black head football coach at Texas A&M University. In his first year as the Aggies’ head coach, Sumlin led A&M to a No. 5 national ranking and the program‘s first 11-win season since 1998. Sumlin was a national coach of the year finalist and coached the first-ever freshman to win the Heisman Trophy – quarterback  Johnny Manziel. Sumlin went to Texas A&M after leading the University of Houston Cougars to a school-record 13 victories and the program’s highest finish (No. 20) in the Bowl Championship Series standings in 2011. Sumlin posted a 35-17 overall record and led the Cougars to three bowl games fueled by his high-powered offense that led the nation in passing, total and scoring offense that set NCAA FBS team records for total offense and passing yards. When hired at UH in 2008, Sumlin became the first African-American head football coach at a NCAA Division I school in the state of Texas. Sumlin was born in Brewton, Alabama, however graduated high school in Indianapolis and attended Purdue University, graduating in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in both criminology and criminal justice. He was a standout linebacker for the Boilermakers.

Sweatt11 — On this day in 1912, Heman Marion Sweatt was born in Houston. In 1946, Sweatt, a graduate of Wiley College, challenged the admissions policy at the University of Texas law school. He teamed with the NAACP, which was looking to test separate but equal education statutes in Texas. Sweatt’s legal battle struck down segregationist policies at the UT law school, gained him admission, and paved the way for the landmark decision  of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

 


11
thornton_bigmamaTexas blues pioneer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born on this day in 1926 in Montgomery, Alabama. Thornton left home in 1941 to pursue her musical career, eventually settling in Houston in 1948. Her 1952 recording of “Hound Dog” was later a huge hit for Elvis Presley, and her song “Ball and Chain” was made famous by Janis Joplin.

 

 

12 — The Ashworth Act was passed by the Texas Congress on this day in 1840 in response to an act passed on February 5, 1840 which prohibited free blacks from living in the Republic of Texas. The Ashworth Act was targeted towards certain free blacks (primarily a family of blacks named Ashworth who had “contributed generously” during the Texas Revolution), but generally said that “all free persons of color together with their families, who were residing in Texas the day of the state’s Declaration of Independence” (March 2, 1836) could remain in the state. Other free blacks had two years to vacate Texas or be sold into slavery.

TBHPP Bookshelf

Anti-Black Violence in Twentieth Century Texas

Published scholarship on black history in Texas is growing and we’d like to share with you some suggested readings, both current and past, from some of the preeminent history scholars in Texas and beyond. We invite you to take a look at our bookshelf page — including a featured selection — and check back as the list grows. A different selection will be featured each week. We welcome suggestions and reviews. This week, we offer “Anti-Black Violence in Twentieth-Century Texas,” edited by Bruce A. Glasrud, who provides an arresting look at the history of violence against African Americans in the state. From a lynching in Paris at the turn of the century to the 1998 murder of Jasper resident James Byrd Jr., who was dragged to death behind a truck, this volume uncovers the violent side of race relations in the Lone Star State. Glasrud has curated an essential contribution to Texas history and historiography that will also bring attention to a chapter in the state’s history that, for many, is still very much a part of the present. The book includes essays from a dozen historians.

Blog: Ron Goodwin, author, PVAMU history professor

Ron Good goodwinwin’s bi-weekly blog appears exclusively for TIPHC/TBHPP. Goodwin is a San Antonio native and Air Force veteran. Generally, his column will address contemporary issues in the black community and how they relate to black history. He and the TIPHC/TBHPP staff welcome your comments. In his latest blog, “Art imitating life(?),” Goodwin draws parallels between the movie “The Hunger Games” and real life scenarios where the poor serve as entertainment for the wealthy as a way of escaping sometimes dire consequences, especially in the black community. Read it

Submissions wanted

Historians, scholars, students, lend us your…writings. Help us produce the most comprehensive documentation ever undertaken for the African American experience in Texas. We encourage you to contribute items about people, places, events, issues, politics/legislation, sports, entertainment, religion, etc., as general entries or essays. Our documentation is wide-ranging and diverse, and you may research and write about the subject of your interest or, to start, please consult our list of suggested biographical entries and see submission guidelines. However, all topics must be approved by TIPHC/TBHPP editors before beginning your research/writing.

We welcome your questions or comments via email or telephone – mdhurd@pvamu.edu, 936-261-9836.