November 14th in Black History

On this date in Black History:

1839. 1st US anti-slavery party, Liberty Party, convenes in NY

1900. The Washington Society of colored Dentists, the first Black dentists association, was founded in Washington DC.
Visit their website

1915. Booker T. Washington, educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute, died in Tuskegee AL.

1916. Mabel Fairbanks (pictured above) was born in New York City. She went from being a homeless child, through serious battles with racism, to become the first Black professional figure skater.
Later she became a coach and mentor to young skaters. She is credited with pairing up Tai Babilonia with Randy Gardner, creating a team that later became five-time national pairs champions in the 1970s. She also worked with the future champions Atoy Wilson, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Rudy Galindo, Tiffany Chin, Debi Thomas, Leslie Robinson, and Michelle McCladdie.
Read this amazing story here

1950. Lydia M. Holmes of St. Augustine, Florida receives U.S. Patent No. 2,529,692 for several easily assembled wooden pull toys including a bird, a truck and dog.
See her plans here

1960. Federal marshals escorted four black girls to two New Orleans schools, three of them to McDonogh elementary and the fourth, six-year-old Ruby Bridges, to William Frantz Elementary School.
Ruby Bridges Interview

1962. Ethiopia annexed Eritrea, revoking its autonomy. This action triggered the Eritrean fight for independence.

1975. The Madrid Accords were signed between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania to end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara. This agreement divided the former Spanish province and former colony between Morocco and Mauritania.

1981. Senegal and Gambia formed a confederation known as Senegambia, headed by the president of Senegal, Abdou Diouf.

1984. Civil Rights hero Rosa Parks won the Eleanor Roosevelt Women of Courage Award

1990. SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organization) secured 41 of the 72 seats, winning 57.3 per cent of the votes in the pre-independence Constituent Assembly of Namibia.