.
June 1, 1968 - Henry Lewis becomes first Black musical director of an American symphony orchestra – the New Jersey Symphony
June 2, 1971 - Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. becomes first African American admiral in U.S. Navy.
June 3, 1890 - L.H. Jones patents corn harvester.
June 4, 1972 - Angela Davis acquitted of all murder and conspiracy charges.
June 5, 1987 - Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first Black woman astronaut.
June 6, 1831 - First annual “People of Color” convention held in Philadelphia.
June 7, 1917 - Poetess Gwendolyn Brooks, first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize (Poetry 1950), born.
June 8, 1953 - Supreme Court ruling bans discrimination in Washington, D.C. restaurants.
June 9, 1995 - Lincoln J. Ragsdale, pioneer fighter pilot of World War II, dies.
June 10, 1854 - James Augustine Healy, first African American Roman Catholic bishop is ordained.
June 11, 1912 - Joseph H. Dickson patents player piano.
June 12, 1963 - Medgar W. Evers, civil rights leader, is assassinated in Jackson, Miss.
June 13, 1967 - Thurgood Marshall nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson.
June 14, 1864 - Congress rules that African American soldiers must receive equal pay.
June 15, 1913 - Dr. Effie O’Neal, first Black woman to hold an executive position in the American Medical Association, born.
June 16, 1970 - Kenneth A. Gibson elected mayor of Newark, N.J., first African American mayor of a major eastern U.S. city.
June 17. 1775 - Minuteman Peter Salem fights in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
June 18, 1863 - The 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry attacks Fort Wagner, S.C.
June 19, 1865 - Black in Texas are notified of Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863. “Juneteenth,” marks the event.
June 20, 1953 - Albert W. Dent of Dillard Universality elected president of the National Health Council.
June 21, 1945 - Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first African American to command a U.S. Army Air Corps base.
June 22, 1897 - William Barry patents the postmarking and canceling.
June 23, 1940 - Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, winner of three gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics, born.
June 24, 1964 - Carl T. Rowan appointed the Director of the United States Information Agency.
June 25, 1941 - Franklin D. Roosevelt issues executive order establishing Fair Employment Practice Commission.
June 26, 1975 - Samuel Blanton Rosser becomes first African American certified in pediatric surgery.
June 27, 1991 - Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall announces his retirement.
June 28, 1864 - Fugitive slave laws repealed by Congress.
June 29 1886 - Photographer James Van Der Zee born.
June 30, 1921 - Charles S. Gilping awarded Springarm Medal for his performance in Eugene O’Neill Emperor Jones.
