Black History
Today in labor history: NAACP appeals to UN on denial of voting rights
October 23, 2012On this day in 1947 the NAACP at the initiative of W.E.B. Du Bois presented an "Appeal to the World" to the United Nations, charging systematic discrimination against African Americans. The Appeal noted that "three-fourths of...
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Today in labor history: African American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery
October 18, 2012On October 18, 1775, Phillis Wheatley - the first African-American poet and the first to publish a book - was freed from slavery. She was sold into slavery during childhood and transported from West Africa to...
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Today in labor history: Tuskegee Institute opened
September 19, 2012The school focused at least officially on industrial and agricultural education in keeping with Washington's pedagogy and philosophy
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Today in labor history: W.E.B. Du Bois dies in Ghana
August 27, 2012On this day in 1963 on the eve of the historic March on Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois died in Ghana.
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Today in labor history: air conditioning patented by black inventor
July 12, 2012Today in 1949 African American inventor Frederick McKinley Jones submitted 3 patents: for an automatic refrigeration system for trucks; the starter generator; and a generator for cooling gas engines - and hence air conditioning was born!...
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