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The Slocum Massacre occurred on July 29, 1910 in Slocum, Texas, an unincorporated community in southeast Anderson County. The city used to be home to a thriving African American community with several businesses and farms owned by black residents. Leading up to the massacre, a … Read MoreThe Slocum…

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(1912) Opening Of The Colored Carnegie Library In Houston

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(1912) Opening Of The Colored Carnegie Library In Houston

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Colored Carnegie Library, Houston, Texas (1913-1961) •

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The Colored Carnegie Library was a segregated branch of the Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library (later the Houston Public Library). It opened in 1913 in Houston’s Fourth Ward and was one of the first public libraries for African-Americans west of the Mississippi River. It was … Read MoreColored Carn…

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(1913) Founding Of The "Harlem Hellfighters"

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(1913) Founding Of The "Harlem Hellfighters"

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Originally:

15th New York (Colored) Infantry Regiment

Harlem Hellfighters, nickname given to the 369th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army during World War I. The French government decorated the entire unit with the Croix de Guerre, its highest award for bravery, as well as 170 additional individual medals for valour. The 369th's battlefield prowess was almost overshadowed by its contribution to music, however, as the Hellfighters' regimental band was credited with bringing jazz to Europe.

Origins

The Hellfighters originated as the 15th New York (Colored) Infantry Regiment, a National Guard unit. Members of the African American community in New York City's Harlem district had long advocated for the creation of a homegrown military unit, but white politicians blocked several attempts at establishing such a body. On June 2, 1913, a bill authorizing an African American National Guard regiment finally passed the New York state legislature, and Gov. William Sulzer signed it into law. However, the 15th New York existed in name only until June 1916, when Gov. Charles Whitman appointed William Hayward, his former campaign manager, to serve as its commanding officer. Hayward had been a colonel in the Nebraska National Guard, and he, like most of the field-grade officers in the unit, was white.

Hayward proved to be an adept organizer, and he recognized the importance of incorporating African American soldiers into the unit's officer corps. An early addition was Charles Fillmore, a Spanish-American War veteran who had been instrumental in the campaign to establish an African American regiment. Fillmore was commissioned a captain and made a company commander. However, despite an endorsement from the New York Age, arguably the most influential African American newspaper of its era, the 15th New York had trouble meeting its recruiting targets. At full strength, the regiment would field several thousand men, but by the end of the summer of 1916, only a fraction of that number had enlisted.

The regiment's fortunes turned around with the enlistment of James Reese Europe in September 1916. Europe was a giant in the music scene of the early 20th century. He was a gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer as well as a tireless champion of African American music and musicians. Europe was also the bandleader for Vernon and Irene Castle, one of the most famous dance teams of the age.

Like many in New York City's African American community, Europe initially had been lukewarm to the notion of military service. The segregated armed forces offered limited opportunities for African American troops, and Europe was the toast of American high society. He had more than a dozen orchestras performing under his banner in 1916, and his creative energies were fueling the transformation of ragtime into jazz. When Europe told his friend and collaborator Noble Sissle that he had joined the 15th New York, Sissle countered that running Europe's musical empire had left neither of them with any time to devote to the army. Europe responded by telling Sissle that he would be joining the unit as well.

Europe was painfully aware of the prejudice that he and his musicians faced. They routinely played at the estates of the wealthiest families in the United States but never entered through the front door. Lynchings were commonplace, but U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson had not yet publicly denounced them. In the 15th, Europe saw an opportunity to create "a strong, powerful institution for the development of the Negro manhood of Harlem." Europe told Sissle that "our race will never amount to anything, politically or economically, in New York or anywhere else unless there are strong organizations of men who stand for something in the community." Sissle was receptive to this argument, and he enlisted the same day. Recruitment, however, continued to be hampered by the 15th's limited resources.

In an effort to boost his unit's profile, Hayward looked to the 8th Illinois, the only other African American regiment in the National Guard, for inspiration. The 8th Illinois had a concert band of national renown, and Hayward had Lieut. Jim Europe at the head of one of his machine gun companies. The solution seemed obvious, but Europe had a reputation to uphold. If he was going to establish a regimental band, he told Hayward that he would need the freedom to make it the finest in the army. Hayward secured $10,000 to fund the band, Europe was made bandleader, and Sissle was promoted to sergeant and made drum major. Europe spent months recruiting the country's finest musicians to his cause, and he personally led a trip to Puerto Rico to fill his reed section. While Europe was building his band, the United States entered World War I.

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Harlem Hellfighters | Members, Battles, & Summary

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Harlem Hellfighters, nickname given to the 369th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army during World War I. The French government decorated the entire unit with the Croix de Guerre, its highest award for bravery, as well as 170 additional individual medals for valor.

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(1915) The Formation Of The Naacp In Texas

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(1915) The Formation Of The Naacp In Texas

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Skip to main menu Skip to page content Skip to footer

People of African descent have been inextricably linked to the history of the land now known as Texas since the earliest days of colonization

African American Texans have created culture and community despite being subjected to racism and oppression in the form of enslavement, segregation, and violence, and have improved the state of Texas with valuable cultural and historical contributions.

I belong to myself now. Harriet, freed woman, 1865

African People Under Spanish Rule

With their arrival in 1528, people of African descent, enslaved and free, were instrumental in the settlement of Spanish Texas.

People of African descent were part of the population that settled Texas in the 17th and 18th centuries. This population included free and enslaved black and mixed-race people, as interracial marriage was legal and very common. The enslaved population was afforded some rights under Spanish rule, including the right to purchase freedom, protest against abuse, or obtain new masters if they were being treated unfairly.

Though African people occupied the lower end of the "castas" racial categorization system of Spanish Texas, some African and mixed-race people were able to ascend the classification system by gaining wealth and prestige through their labor

Mexican Independence and Texas Revolution

Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821 following an 11-year revolutionary war. Under Mexican rule, slavery was officially outlawed in Texas by 1829. However, special consideration given to Anglo settlers meant that the enslaved population of Texas continued to grow, as enslaved men and women were forced to accompany their enslavers on their journey into Texas.

Following Mexican Independence in 1821, the Mexican government adopted policies to gradually outlaw enslavement in the newly established country, but Anglo settlers actively worked to ensure slavery was preserved in Tejas. A number of enslaved African Americans arrived with Stephen F. Austin and his Anglo settlers in 1824. By the end of 1825, there were around 443 slaves in the colony -almost a quarter of its population. By the time that clashes with the Mexican government led to the Texas Revolution in 1835, more than 5,000 enslaved people lived in Texas.

Slavery in Texas

African American life after Texas Independence was shaped by new and existing legal constraints, enslavement, and violence. Free blacks struggled with new laws banning them from residence in the state, while the majority of black Texans remained enslaved.

The Texas Constitution of 1836 gave more protection to slaveholders while further controlling the lives of enslaved people through new slave codes. The Texas Legislature passed increasingly restrictive laws governing the lives of free blacks, including a law banishing all free black people from the Republic of Texas.

Texas's enslaved population grew rapidly: while there were 30,000 enslaved people in Texas in 1845, the census lists 58,161 enslaved African Americans in 1850. The number had increased to 182,566 by 1860.

Most enslaved people in Texas were brought by white families from the southern United States. Some enslaved people came through the domestic slave trade, which was centered in New Orleans. A smaller number of enslaved people were brought via the international slave trade, though this had been illegal since 1806.

Most enslaved African Americans in Texas were forced into unskilled labor as field hands in the production of cotton, corn, and sugar, though some lived and worked on large plantations or in urban areas where they engaged in more skilled forms of labor as cooks, blacksmiths, and carpenters. While there were no large-scale slave insurrections in Texas, enslaved people resisted in a variety of ways, the most common being running away. Enslaved people made personal connections, and established family relationships wherever possible despite the odds, which was made more difficult by the changing nature of Texas and its white population.

De slaves was about de same things as mules or cattle, dey was bought and sold and dey wasn't supposed ter be treated lak people anyway. We all knew dat we was only a race of people as our master was and dat we had a certain amount of rights but we was jest property and had ter be loyal ter our masers. It hurt us sometimes ter be treated de way some of us was treated but we couldn't help ourselves and had ter do de best we could which nearly all of us done.

-Mollie Dawson, enslaved in Navarro County, Texas

Civil War and Emancipation

Life for enslaved African Americans remained relatively unchanged during the Civil War. However, with Union General Granger's emancipation announcement at the end of the war, African Americans celebrated their independence and began new lives as freedpeople.

On February 23, 1861, Texans voted to secede from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. Because Texas remained relatively unscathed by fighting during the war, life for enslaved African Americans continued in much the same way as it had before the fighting. Felix Haywood, who worked as a cowboy while enslaved in San Antonio, described his experience of the war when interviewed in 1937: "It's a funny thing how folks always want to know about the war. The war wasn't so great as folks suppose. Sometimes you didn't know it was going on. It was the ending of it that made the difference."

While Felix Haywood's life was undisturbed by the war, other enslaved people experienced upheaval. Some enslaved people were moved from the eastern areas of Texas or from other southern states to keep them away from Union troops, and many were made to labor for the Confederate Army, building fortifications and other methods of defense.

On June 19, 1865, at the end of the Civil War and over two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston and declared that enslavement was ended. However, many black people in Texas remained enslaved for months, and in rare cases years, when their owners refused to release them. Many newly emancipated people celebrated their independence at the holiday subsequently known as Juneteenth, though some found their celebrations thwarted by disgruntled former slave-owners. Some people immediately set off in search of lost family and friends, while others experienced confusion and uncertainty about their futures as freedpeople.

What I likes best, to be slave or free? Well, it's this way. In slavery I owns nothing and never owns nothing. In freedom I's own the home and raise the family. All that cause me worriment, and in slavery I has no worriment, but I takes the freedom. Margrett Nillin

Reconstruction

Reconstruction, a period when people across the United States attempted to reckon with the political, economic, and physical destruction of the Civil War, was a difficult time in Texas, and throughout the country. This era was marked by intense violence and extreme social turmoil, and had lasting implications at the local, state, and federal levels. State and national governments worked to reintegrate Confederate states into the Union, while African Americans navigated the increasingly complicated process of freedom.

Black Codes instated by an all-white state Constitutional Congress in 1866 severely limited black people's rights. These Black Codes included labor, vagrancy, and apprenticeship laws that were meant to mimic the conditions of enslavement. White Texans, reacting to the end of the Civil War, increased violence and attacks against African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan was present in Texas by 1868 and its members intimidated and assaulted freedpeople, usually to reduce black political participation. The Freedman's Bureau, which began in Texas in September 1865, attempted to curb this violence. Its success diminished over time. In addition to protection against white violence, the Freedman's Bureau aimed to assist newly freed African Americans with legal matters, education, and employment.

Newly freed African Americans, most of whom had few resources with which to start their new lives, found themselves increasingly limited by the legacies of enslavement. Many were forced to sign sharecropping contracts with their former owners, while others were incarcerated at rapid rates. Despite these difficulties, African Americans began constructing new forms of family and kinship ties, while making gains in literacy and education

Political Advancement

With the implementation of national Reconstruction, African Americans became more involved in state political processes, and some black men, including G.T. Ruby and Matthew Gaines, served in the Texas Legislature.

Starting with the election of nine African American delegates to a state constitutional convention in 1868, African American men began a brief period of political engagement. George T. Ruby, a former Freedmen's Bureau agent originally from New York, was a particularly prominent black voice in Texas politics, serving in the Texas Legislature from 1870 until 1874. Matthew Gaines, formerly enslaved in Fredericksburg, Texas, was a Baptist minister who served as the Senator from the Sixteenth District in the Texas Legislature during Reconstruction. Both Gaines and Ruby advocated for the rights of freedpeople during their tenures in office, and both were forced to relinquish their seats after Texas Democrats (the party then ruled by former slaveowners) regained political power.

Segregation and Violence

With the end of Reconstruction, segregation and suppression controlled the physical movement, social advancement, and political participation of African Americans in Texas.

Reconstruction in Texas officially ended with the inauguration of Democratic Governor Richard Coke in January 1874, and the brief political engagement of Texas African Americans was severely curtailed until the mid-twentieth century. White Texans utilized violence, intimidation, and legal means to limit black suffrage, and passed a poll tax in 1902 to restrict the political participation of poor people of all races. The most effective means of reducing black political participation, however, was the white primary, which restricted voting in Democratic primary elections to white Texans. Many African Americans challenged the legality of this system, including Lawrence A. Nixon in 1924 and Richard R. Grovey in 1935. Nevertheless, the Texas Democratic Party's use of the white primary persisted until the Supreme Court struck it down in 1944.

Laws requiring segregation of railroad cars, waiting rooms, restrooms, restaurants, entertainment establishments, and residential neighborhoods also restricted African American mobility and advancement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Ku Klux Klan, which experienced a national resurgence in the 1920s, enacted violence and terror on Texas African Americans, and lynching became an increasingly prevalent form of racial intimidation. Between 1885 and 1942, there were 468 documented victims of lynching in Texas, the vast majority of whom were African American.

Community and Resistance

While African Americans fought against discrimination and repression, they also organized in their neighborhoods, participated in war efforts, and influenced the larger state of Texas with valuable cultural, political, and economic contributions.

Black people built neighborhoods, participated in churches and organizing efforts, and owned businesses and newspapers, all while living under the shadow of racist violence and oppression. While schools continued to be segregated until later in the 20th century, black Texas educators including Melvin B. Tolson at Wiley College in Marshall and W. Rutherford Banks at Prairie View worked to improve historically black colleges and universities. Mary Branch was appointed president of Tillotson College in Austin, Texas, in 1930, and transformed the college from a struggling junior college for women to a successful four-year college and led the way for the future merger with Samuel Huston College, forming Huston-Tillotson University in 1952.

In addition, African Americans participated in the war efforts of the First and Second World Wars. Black men were called up for enlistment at higher rates than their population percentages, while black women worked in the defense industry and supported troops from home. Doris Miller, born in Willow Grove, Texas, distinguished himself during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, while Leonard Harmon, originally from Cuero, became the first African American to have a warship named after him, for his heroism during the battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. Black men and women also enjoyed more employment options with the desegregation of the defense industry after the enactment of Executive Order 8802 in 1941.

At the same time, the black rural population declined as more African Americans moved to urban areas in Texas. Black people increasingly participated in urban industry, and the number of black professionals rose from around 400 in 1940 to almost 4,000 by 1960. This number continued to increase throughout the twentieth century.

Black musicians and athletes, including Blind Lemon Jefferson and Jack Johnson, achieved national recognition for their contributions to Texas and American culture, while John Biggers, J. Mason Brewer, and many others influenced state and national art and literature. Black Texans continued to work to confront racism and segregation, and laid the groundwork for the progress that would be achieved during the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement in Texas

African Americans continued to confront racist legislation and legal segregation, organizing in their communities against their continued oppression. The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were catalysts for increased black political and social participation in the mid-20th century.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Texas, target of racist ire since its formation in the state in 1915, chipped away at legal restrictions on black rights and won important cases in Smith v. Allwright, which declared white primaries unconstitutional in 1944, and Sweatt v. Painter, which desegregated the University of Texas Law School in 1950.

African American women, including Lulu B. White and Juanita Craft, were instrumental in political activism. Lulu B. White was an important organizer and activist in the first half of the 20th century. White became the president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP in 1939, and transformed her chapter into the largest in the South by 1943. She later served as the state director of the NAACP.

Juanita Craft worked with Lulu B. White at the NAACP, and was the first black woman to vote in Dallas in 1944. During her long career in Texas politics, Craft was responsible for the 1955 Dallas Youth Council protest of Negro Achievement Day at the Texas State Fair, and was involved in desegregation efforts at the University of Texas and North Texas State University. Later, she was elected City Councilwoman for the Dallas City Council.

While African American women worked for progress on the state and local levels, federal policies also created opportunities for black Texans. The passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 allowed for more black participation in the political process, and helped people achieve more opportunities for advancement in employment, and state and national recognition for contributions to the arts, music, athletics, education, food, politics, science, and business.

The Story Continues

The Story of Texas cannot be told without recognition of 500 years of African American impact and contribution to the state's legacy. African descended people in the state of Texas have encountered incredible difficulty, but have continued to build community and create identity throughout their presence in the state. While Texans continue to work toward equality and justice, African Americans remain an integral part of the larger story of the state of Texas.

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The African American Story | Texas State History Museum

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Skip to main menu Skip to page content Skip to footer People of African descent have been inextricably linked to the history of the land now known as Texas since the earliest days of colonization African American Texans have created culture and community despite being subjected to racism and oppression in the form of enslavement, segregation, and violence, and have improved the state of Texas with valuable cultural and historical contributions.

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‘Waco Horror’ at 100: Why Jesse Washington’s lynching still matters

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Mary Pearson doesn’t need to be reminded of Jesse Washington’s lynching.

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(1942) Houston Riot Of 19178 Dorris Miller Awarded Medal Of Honor

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(1942) Houston Riot Of 19178 Dorris Miller Awarded Medal Of Honor

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Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. While attending Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team. He worked on his father's farm before enlisting in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third Class, at Dallas, Texas, on 16 September 1939, to travel, and earn money for his family. He later was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, was advanced to Mess Attendant, Second Class and First Class, and subsequently was promoted to Cook, Third Class.

Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on 2 January 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 August, and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it, so he went on deck. Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. Then an officer ordered him to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. He subsequently manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship.

Miller described firing the machine gun during the battle, a weapon which he had not been trained to operate: "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

During the attack, Japanese aircraft dropped two armored piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes into her port side. Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe flooding below decks, the crew abandoned ship while West Virginia slowly settled to the harbor bottom. Of the 1,541 men on West Virginia during the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded. Subsequently refloated, repaired, and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end of the war in August 1945.

Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked:

This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts.

On 13 December 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis (CA-35), and subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November 1942. Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) in the spring of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay's aircraft supported operations ashore between 20-23 November 1943. At 5:10 a.m. on 24 November, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern. The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within minutes. Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was officially presumed dead 25 November 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646 died.

In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.

Commissioned on 30 June 1973, USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.

On 11 October 1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority dedicated a bronze commemorative plaque of Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.

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Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. While attending Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team.

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Home > Smith v. Allwright decision... Texas Negroes....

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THE SPRINGFIELD UNION, Mass., April 4, 1944

* Smith v. Allwright decision (1st report)
* United States Supreme Court
* African Americans voting right in Texas

The front page has a two column heading:"Supreme Court Rules Negroes Can Vote in Southern Primary" (see)
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day with much on World War II. Complete in 14 pages, light toning at the margins, minor spine wear, generally nice.

Category: The 20th Century

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timothy hughes rare and early newspapers

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Smith v. Allwright decision... Texas Negroes....

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Home > Smith v. Allwright decision... Texas Negroes.... THE SPRINGFIELD UNION, Mass., April 4, 1944 * Smith v. Allwright decision (1st report) * United States Supreme Court * African Americans voting right in Texas The front page has a two column heading:"Supreme Court Rules Negroes Can Vote in Southern Primary" (see) Other news, sports and advertisements of the day with much on World War II.

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Juanita Craft (born Juanita Jewel Shanks; February 9, 1902 - August 6, 1985) was an American activist and politician. Craft was an activist in the civil rights movement and also served as a member of the Dallas City Council in Texas.

Born in Round Rock, Texas, Craft was the only child of schoolteachers David Sylvestus (d. 1947) and Eliza Balfour Shanks (d. 1918). Craft was raised by her mother until she died in 1918. After her mother's death, Craft moved to Columbus, Texas to be with her father. After graduating high school in 1919, Craft attended Prairie View A&M University where she studied sewing and millinery. After two years at Prairie View, Craft moved back to Austin, Texas and received her teaching certificate from Samuel Huston College. By 1925, Craft was working as a maid at the Adolphus Hotel and later as a seamstress.

Craft joined the NAACP in 1935, eventually becoming the Dallas NAACP membership chairman in 1942 and the Texas NAACP field organizer in 1946. She helped to organize 182 branches of the NAACP over eleven years. In 1944, Craft became the first black woman in Dallas County to vote in a public election. In 1955, she organized a protest of the State Fair of Texas against its policy of admitting blacks only on "Negro Achievement Day." Craft also assisted in the organization of protests and pickets in segregated lunch counters, restaurants, theaters and public transportation.

Following the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Craft worked to integrate the University of Texas Law School and the Dallas Independent School District. She attempted to help enroll the first black student at North Texas State College (Now the University of North Texas), a battle eventually won through litigation She later served two terms on the Dallas City Council from 1975 and 1979. Craft became a towering historic figure in the Civil Rights Movement in Texas, and was given many awards for her efforts, including the NAACP Golden Heritage Life Membership Award in 1978, the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award in 1984, and she was recognized by the NAACP for her fifty years of service shortly before her death at the age of 83 on August 6, 1985.

The Juanita Jewel Craft Recreation Center and a Dallas city park were named in her honor as was a U.S. Post Office in southeast Dallas. Craft home on Warren Avenue in South Dallas is now the Juanita J. Craft Civil Rights House and is part of Dallas's Wheatley Place Historic District. Climbing the wooden steps of its front porch were many historic figures seeking audience with Juanita Craft, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Craft was married twice, first to a childhood friend Charles Floyd Langham from 1921 to 1925. Craft's second marriage was to salesman and gambler Johnnie Edward Craft from 1937 until his death in 1950.

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Juanita Craft (born Juanita Jewel Shanks; February 9, 1902 - August 6, 1985) was an American activist and politician. Craft was an activist in the civil rights movement and also served as a member of the Dallas City Council in Texas. Born in Round Rock, Texas, Craft was the only child of schoolteachers David Sylvestus (d.

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Editor's note: This is part of a compilation of stories highlighting the experiences of students struggling to achieve equal representation on campus.
Heman Marion Sweatt sees $27,000 in cash lying on the table before him. Taking the money means dropping his lawsuit against UT and never attending the University's law school. It was a bribe he wasn't willing to take.

Seventy years ago, Sweatt filed a lawsuit against then-University president Theophilus Painter. Sweatt, a black man, applied to the UT School of Law in 1946 and was denied admittance because of his race.

His suit challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine that permitted segregation of blacks and whites under Plessy v. Ferguson. Though it was initially denied by the Texas District Court, the case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 5, 1950 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sweatt, stating that the blacks-only law school the University tried to create in the alloted six-month period was inherently unequal. The court required the University to accept Sweatt.

Even though he had been admitted, his time at UT would prove to be just as difficult as the admittance process.

"He talked about how he'd go to class and he'd have screens set up around his desk sectioning him off or he'd be moved out into the hallway," said his great nephew, Heman Marion Sweat II. "He had made quite a few friends who were really concerned for his safety, and they would walk him after class to his car."

Sweatt II was born on June 30, 1950. While he didn't spend much time with his great uncle growing up, he knew his name was full of history. As he learned more about his great uncle, it drove him to live up to the expectations that came with their shared name.

"[His legacy] drove me to do try harder," Sweatt II said. "When I was real young, it was likely a burden, but as I got older and I started learning about his impact on education in Texas, it gave me something to shoot for."

In 1968, 18 years after his great uncle was admitted, Sweatt II attended UT. While the campus atmosphere was more accepting of black students than it was in the '50s, Sweatt II still felt disdain from his classmates. He said campus police officers would frequently stop him to ask for his ID while white students walked uninhibited around campus.

"There were a number of times where I felt excluded from the conversation," Sweatt II said. "There was always that feeling that all those people smiling in your face did not really want to be bothered with you or any other minority student on campus. Everything that black students gained on UT campus had to be petitioned for."

Sweatt II sent his great uncle Heman a letter to share the news of his acceptance, and his great uncle was delighted. While he was never able to finish law school, he hoped Sweatt II would continue his education.

"He always tried to encourage me and my cousin to stick with [education] and not let anything distract or deter [us]," Sweatt II said.

Sweatt developed major health problems due in part to the stress of the lawsuit and died in 1982. While his uncle is survived by the lasting impact of his Supreme Court case, Sweatt II said there is still progress to be made.

"[We should] stop prejudging and collectively [labeling] a group of people," Sweatt II said. "If you open up the door and let everyone compete freely, I think people begin to realize and see, with my uncle's case and moving forward, that the color of the skin doesn't determine how much knowledge you can gain or how educated you are."

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Sweatt v. Painter case leaves lasting impact

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Editor's note: This is part of a compilation of stories highlighting the experiences of students struggling to achieve equal representation on campus. Heman Marion Sweatt sees $27,000 in cash lying on the table before him. Taking the money means dropping his lawsuit against UT and never attending the University's law school.

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(1953) D.Joe Williams Interagates Collegiate Sports

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(1953) D.Joe Williams Interagates Collegiate Sports

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Story Links RIO GRANDE VALLEY - On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

The decision was the beginning of a long road to desegregate schools, particularly in the South. The decision also helped to push the still developing civil rights movement forward.

Still, it was another 14 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and even longer until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

It wasn't until 1976 that the Supreme Court ruled that private schools, not including religious schools, could not deny admission to students on the basis of race in Runyon v. McCrary.

However, it was only a few months after the initial Brown v. Board of Education decision that legacy institution Pan American University welcomed the first African American collegiate student-athlete in the history of the State of Texas, D. Joe Williams, who competed in baseball, cross country and track & field.

A member of the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the Texas and El Paso Baseball Halls of Fame, Williams broke the color barrier as the center fielder for the 1954 baseball team, hitting .262 to help the team to the Big State Conference Championship. Williams also won a pair of individual conference championships with the track & field team, taking the titles in the 880-yard and one-mile runs.

Williams came to Pan American after competing at Booker T. Washington High School in McAllen, a segregated school that existed from 1941-57, where he stole 26 bases as a position player and went 10-3 with 78 strikeouts as a pitcher. This led to him getting scouted by the St. Louis Browns in 1953.

Born in Dobbin on March 4, 1936, Williams moved to McAllen as a child, where he picked up baseball at the age of 10. He became one of the first African Americans to play in the Junior League in the late 1940s, where he hit over .400 as a first baseman and once pitched a one-hitter with one eye closed due to injury. He also played in a semi-pro Negro League at the age of 16.

After finishing his time at Pan American, Williams coached at Charlie Brown High School in West Columbia for five years before moving to the El Paso area, where he was a teacher and coach for 47 years at Fabens, Socorro and Tornillo High Schools. He led Fabens to three district titles in five years, advancing to the regional finals each time. He coached several players who went on to play in the Mexican League and in minor league baseball.

During his time at Fabens, Williams formed, coach and played for a semi-pro baseball team, the Viejos, for whom Williams was a two-time All-Star. He led the league in strikeouts in 1979, his second to last season as a player.

Williams also played fast-pitch softball, where he was an outstanding pitcher. After his playing career was over, Williams spent time as an umpire at several levels of baseball.

Williams was an original member of the Board of Directors for the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame, and at one point, served as the president.

He passed away on Dec. 15, 2013 at the age of 77, but Williams' legacy lives on.

After Williams broke the color barrier, Pan American remained at the forefront of integrating college athletics.

The men's basketball team, for example, won the 1963 NAIA National Championship with two Black starters - Mitchell Edwards and Luke Jackson. One of the top players off the bench was Walter Yates, a Black player who started as a freshman before Edwards, who played the same position, arrived.

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The First African American Collegiate Student-Athlete in Texas Competed Here - UTRGV Athletics

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Story Links RIO GRANDE VALLEY - On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The decision was the beginning of a long road to desegregate schools, particularly in the South.

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(1955) Dallas Youth Council Protest Of Negro Achievment Day

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(1955) Dallas Youth Council Protest Of Negro Achievment Day

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In 1955, the Texas State Fair in Dallas was segregated, a tradition that dated back to 1889 when planners first set aside a day for African Americans to attend the fair. Then called Colored People's Day, it was discontinued in 1910 and renamed Negro Achievement Day in 1936.

A collaboration between the Negro Chamber of Commerce and the State Fair Board, Negro Achievement Day featured a parade decked out with floats and fair Queens, the presentation of the Most Distinguished Negro Citizen Award, and high school and college football games. The day drew African American visitors from all over the state.

In 1953, the fair announced that African Americans could attend the fair on any day, but could only fully participate in the fair's enjoyments on Negro Achievement Day. Juanita Craft, NAACP Youth Council advisor for the Dallas branch, spearheaded a movement to end discrimination at the fair so that any person of any race could participate on any day they chose. Craft and members of the Youth Council decided to stage a boycott of the fair to draw attention to discriminatory practices. Teenagers, equipped with signs proclaiming "TODAY IS NEGRO APPEASEMENT DAY AT THE FAIR," picketed the parade that began at the local black high school. In an interview given in 1974, Craft remembered, "Those kids went to the starting point at Lincoln High School and boarded the floats right along with the queens and everybody else and rode down the streets saying, 'Stay out. Don't sell your pride for a segregated ride.' The kids were on top of people's houses along the route of the parade with megaphones telling about the segregated policy out there and to stay out."

When the parade reached the picket line at the entrance of the fair, participants turned and refused to enter. The picket line lasted throughout the day and into the night. While the Youth Council did not succeed in ending Negro Achievement Day, they were able to draw attention to the discrimination African Americans faced. The Youth Council was given an award by the NAACP for their well organized and peaceful demonstration. In later years, adults took over picketing the fair. Achievement Day (fair planners dropped the "Negro" in 1957) officially ended in 1961, followed by the full desegregation of the fair later in the '60s.

The boycott, and the majority of other civil rights activity in Dallas, was captured on film by photographer R. C. Hickman. Born in the East Texas town of Mineloa in 1922, Hickman moved to Dallas with his family in the 1930s. After attending Tillotson College in Austin, he served as an Army photographer in World War II, then returned to Dallas to work as a photographer for the Dallas Star Post. As the unofficial photographer of the African American community in Dallas in the 1950s, he captured pivotal moments in the city's civil rights history, including visits by Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall.

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NAACP Picket the Texas State Fair in 1955

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In 1955, members of the NAACP Youth Council formed a picket line to protest segregation at the Texas State Fair in Dallas.

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Courtesy Fort Worth Star-Telegram, University of Texas Special Collections

The desegregation of public schools in Mansfield, Texas was one of the most contentious in the state and eventually garnered national attention as the evolving civil rights struggles moved to the forefront of the country's conscience. In Mansfield, African Americans campaigning for civil rights in general and school integration waged a ten-year campaign to gain equal access to public schools in that community.

As a result of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the Mansfield school district was ordered to desegregate by Texas federal judge Joe Estes. It became the first Texas school district affected by the Brown ruling. The school board approved a measure to allow the Mansfield High School to desegregate but Mayor William Arnold "Bud" Halbert and Police Chief C.G. Harwell vowed that they would not comply with the Board's decision.

In 1955, the Mansfield Independent School District (ISD), which numbered fewer than 700 whites and 60 blacks, segregated its black students into a four-room elementary school in the city. High school students were required to ride a bus into nearby Fort Worth and then walk twenty blocks to the all-black I.M. Terrell High School.

During the same year, the Mansfield National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a lawsuit on behalf of three black high school students (T.M. Moody, John F. Lawson, and Mark Moody), insisting that they should attend the high school in their community. The Mansfield NAACP hired Fort Worth attorney L. Clifford Davis to represent their interest to the school board.

Encouraged by their defiance, on August 30 and 31, 1956, an angry mob of nearly 400 whites surrounded Mansfield High School to prevent the enrollment of three African American students. Angry white residents hanged the three black students in effigy and outside reporters and observers were attacked. At one point the town's sheriff, Harlan Wright, who attempted to confront the mob, was threatened. Downtown stores closed as a show of support and vigilantes met all cars entering town, barring integration sympathizers.

Texas Governor R. Allan Shivers, who opposed the Brown decision, called out the Texas Rangers at Mansfield to prevent any black students from entering the public school. Shivers ignored the federal court order for integration by authorizing Mansfield ISD to send its black students to Fort Worth, Texas.

The Mansfield incident was the nation's first example of a failure to enforce a federal court order for the desegregation of a public school. The Mansfield School Incident encouraged later violent confrontations in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 and at the University of Mississippi in 1962. More immediately it was the principle factor in the passage of the 1957 segregation laws by the Texas state legislature which delayed integration for several years. In 1965, faced with loss of federal funds, the Mansfield school district finally desegregated, its decade-long defiance of a federal school integration order was one of the longest in the nation during that period.

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Mansfield (Texas) School Desegregation Incident (1955-1965) *

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The desegregation of public schools in Mansfield, Texas was one of the most contentious in the state and eventually garnered national attention as the evolving civil rights struggles moved to the forefront of the country's conscience. In Mansfield, African Americans campaigning for civil rights in ...

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It's been 52 years, but Texas Western/UTEP basketball fans still can celebrate the historic NCAA Championship victory.

On March 19, 1966, the Miners made history by starting five black players in a national championship game against the heavily favored (at the time) Kentucky Wildcats.

However, looking back, most would argue that Texas Western was indeed the better team coming into the contest, but prejudice at the time placed the Miners in the underdog role.

You can celebrate their victory today, maybe not by taking a victory lap around campus, but by going down memory lane.

Here are four ways you can remember the 1966 team.

Re-read the stories

The El Paso Times has compiled a long list of stories, photos and videos over the years, from the original front page to interviews with members of the team.

Here are some of the gems to check out:

Watch Glory Road

If you're free for two hours, you can watch the 2006 movie "Glory Road."

The film stars Josh Lucas as the legendary Don Haskins, who has a brief cameo. If you're a fan of sports flicks, you might get a kick of seeing University of Texas at El Paso landmarks in the movie.

The climax may even get you on your feet cheering.

The movie is currently available for streaming on HBO Go. You also can get it on Amazon Prime and YouTube, but it will cost you $2.99.

Read a book

Maybe you want to go more in-depth. Well, reading could be your best friend. Since the historic win, numerous books have been written about the 1966 champions.

Here are the top choices:

YouTube

Of course, in this day and age, just about everything is on the internet. If you would rather browse on your own, then go for it.

A quick search of "1966 national championship basketball" provides a huge selection of clips, such as this one with the historic starting lineup introductions:

You also can find news stories done on various anniversaries, interviews with some who played in the game and commentary from those who were inspired.

If you find any hidden gems, feel free to share with us.

No matter what you do today, the 1966 Texas Western Miners are a huge part of history - in El Paso and nationwide. The team is worth celebrating each year during the NCAA tournament.

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52 years ago: How to commemorate Texas Western's NCAA basketball championship

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It's been 52 years, but Texas Western/UTEP basketball fans still can celebrate the historic NCAA Championship victory. On March 19, 1966, the Miners made history by starting five black players in a national championship game against the heavily favored (at the time) Kentucky Wildcats.

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(1967) Election Of Barbra Jordan To The Texas State Senate (1973) And House Of Represenitives

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(1967) Election Of Barbra Jordan To The Texas State Senate (1973) And House Of Represenitives

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Barbara Jordan emerged as an eloquent and powerful interpreter of the Watergate impeachment investigation at a time when many Americans despaired about the Constitution and the country. As one of the first African Americans elected from the Deep South since 1898 and the first Black Congresswoman ever from that region, Jordan lent added weight to her message by her very presence on the House Judiciary Committee.

Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston, Texas, on February 21, 1936, one of three daughters of Benjamin M. Jordan and Arlyne Patten Jordan. Benjamin Jordan, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, worked in a local warehouse before becoming pastor of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which his family had long attended. Arlyne Jordan was an accomplished public speaker. Barbara Jordan was educated in the Houston public schools and graduated from Phyllis Wheatley High School in 1952. She earned a BA from Texas Southern University in 1956 and a law degree from Boston University in 1959. That same year, she was admitted to the Massachusetts and Texas bars, and she began to practice law in Houston in 1960. To supplement her income (she worked temporarily out of her parents' home), Jordan was employed as an administrative assistant to a county judge. ¹

Barbara Jordan's political turning point occurred when she worked on the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign in 1960. She eventually helped manage a highly organized get-out-the-vote program that served Houston's 40 African-American precincts. In 1962 and 1964, Jordan ran for the Texas house of representatives but lost both times, so in 1966 she ran for the Texas senate when court-enforced redistricting created a constituency that consisted largely of minority voters. Jordan won, defeating a white liberal and becoming the first African-American state senator in the U.S. since 1883 as well as the first Black woman ever elected to that chamber. ² The other 30 (male, white) senators received her coolly, but Jordan quickly earned a reputation as an effective legislator who pushed through bills establishing the state's first minimum wage law, anti-discrimination clauses in business contracts, and the Texas Fair Employment Practices Commission. On March 28, 1972, Jordan's peers elected her president pro tempore of the Texas senate, making her the first Black woman in America to preside over a legislative body. In seconding the nomination, one of Jordan's male colleagues on the other side of the chamber stood, spread his arms open, and said, "What can I say? Black is beautiful." ³ One of Jordan's responsibilities as president pro tempore was to serve as acting governor when the governor and lieutenant governor were out of the state. When Jordan filled that largely ceremonial role on June 10, 1972, she became the first Black chief executive in the nation.

In 1971 Jordan entered the race for the Texas congressional seat encompassing downtown Houston. The district had been redrawn after the 1970 Census and was composed of a predominantly African-American and Hispanic-American population. In the 1972 Democratic primary, Jordan faced Curtis Graves, another Black state legislator, who attacked her for being too close to the white establishment. Jordan blunted Graves's charges with her legislative credentials. "I'm not going to Washington and turn things upside down in a day," she told supporters at a rally. "I'll only be one of 435. But the 434 will know I'm there." 4 Jordan took the primary with 80 percent of the vote. In the general election, against Republican Paul Merritt, she won 81 percent of the vote. Along with Andrew Jackson Young Jr. of Georgia, Jordan became the first African American in the twentieth century elected to Congress from the Deep South. In the next two campaign cycles, Jordan overwhelmed her opposition, capturing 85 percent of the total vote in both general elections. ⁵

Representative Jordan's political philosophy from her days in the state legislature led her to focus on local issues. Civil rights and women's rights activists sometimes criticized her when she chose to favor her community interests rather than theirs. She followed this pattern in the House. "I sought the power points," she once said. "I knew if I were going to get anything done, [the congressional and party leaders] would be the ones to help me get it done." ⁶ Jordan was reluctant to commit herself fully to any one interest group or caucus, such as the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), of which she was a member. House women met informally too, but Jordan's attendance at those meetings was irregular, and she was noncommittal on most issues that were brought before the group. She was especially careful not to attach herself too closely to an agenda she had little control over that might impinge on her ability to navigate and compromise within the institutional power structure. "I am neither a black politician nor a woman politician," Jordan said in 1975. "Just a politician, a professional politician." ⁷

In both her Texas legislative career and in the U.S. House, Jordan made the conscious decision to pursue power within the established system. One of her first moves in Congress was to establish relationships with Members of the Texas delegation, which had strong institutional connections. Her attention to influence inside the House was demonstrated by where she sat in the House Chamber's large, theater-style seating arrangement. CBC members traditionally sat to the far left of the chamber, but Jordan chose to sit near the center aisle because she could hear better, be seen by the presiding officer, and save an open seat for colleagues who wanted to stop and chat. Her seating preference as well as her loyalty to the Texas delegation agitated fellow CBC members, but both were consistent with Jordan's model of seeking congressional influence. ⁸

Jordan also believed that an important committee assignment, one where she would be a trailblazer because of her gender and race, would magnify her influence. Thus, she disregarded suggestions that she accept a seat on the Education and Labor Committee and used her connection with Texan Lyndon B. Johnson-she had been his guest at the White House during her time as a state legislator-to secure a plum committee assignment on the Judiciary Committee. Securing former President Johnson's intercession with Wilbur Daigh Mills of Arkansas, the chairman of the Committee on Committees, she landed a seat on the Judiciary Committee, where she served for her three terms in the House. ⁹ In the 94th and 95th Congresses (1975-1979), she was also assigned to the Committee on Government Operations. ¹⁰

It was as a freshman Member of the Judiciary Committee, however, that Jordan earned national recognition. In the summer of 1974, as the committee considered articles of impeachment against President Richard M. Nixon for crimes associated with the Watergate Scandal, Jordan delivered opening remarks that shook the committee room and the large television audience that had tuned in to the proceedings. "My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total," Jordan said. "I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." She then explained the reasoning behind her support of each of the five articles of impeachment against President Nixon. In conclusion, Jordan said that if her fellow committee members did not find the evidence compelling enough, "then perhaps the eighteenth-century Constitution should be abandoned to a twentieth-century paper shredder." Reaction to Jordan's statement was overwhelming. Jordan recalled that people swarmed around her car after the hearings to congratulate her, and many people sent the Texas Representative letters of praise. One person even posted a message on a series of billboards in Houston: "Thank you, Barbara Jordan, for explaining the Constitution to us." ¹¹ The Watergate impeachment hearings helped create Jordan's reputation as a respected national politician.

From her first days in Congress, Jordan encouraged colleagues to extend the federal protection of civil rights to more Americans. She introduced civil rights amendments to legislation authorizing law enforcement assistance grants and joined seven other members on the Judiciary Committee in opposing Gerald R. Ford's nomination as Vice President, citing a mediocre civil rights record. In 1975, when Congress voted to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Jordan sponsored legislation that broadened the provisions of the act to include Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Although she voted for busing to enforce racial desegregation in public schools, she was one of the few African-American Members of Congress to question the utility of the policy. ¹²

Jordan's talent as a speaker continued to contribute to her national profile. In 1976 she became the first woman and the first African-American keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention. Appearing after a subdued speech by Ohio Senator John Herschel Glenn Jr., Jordan energized the convention with her oratory. "We are a people in search of a national community," she told the delegates, "attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal.... We cannot improve on the system of government, handed down to us by the founders of the Republic, but we can find new ways to implement that system and to realize our destiny." ¹³ Amid the historical perspective of the national bicentennial, and in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate, Jordan's message, like her commanding voice, resonated with Americans. She campaigned widely for Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, who defeated President Ford in the general election. Though Carter later interviewed Jordan for a Cabinet position, he did not offer her the position of U.S. Attorney General, the one post she said she would accept.

In 1978, downplaying reports about her poor health, Jordan declined to run for what would have been certain re-election to a fourth term, citing her "internal compass," which she said was pointing her "away from demands that are all consuming." ¹⁴ She also said she wanted to work more directly on behalf of her fellow Texans. Jordan was appointed the Lyndon Johnson Chair in National Policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin, where she taught until the early 1990s. She continued to lecture widely on national affairs. In 1988 and 1992, she delivered speeches at the Democratic National Convention. Her 1992 keynote address was delivered from a wheelchair while she was in the midst of a lengthy battle with multiple sclerosis. In 1994 President William J. (Bill) Clinton appointed her to lead the Commission on Immigration Reform, a bipartisan group that delivered its findings in September of that year. Jordan received nearly two dozen honorary degrees and, in 1990, was named to the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca, New York. She never married and carefully guarded her private life. ¹⁵

Jordan died in Austin, Texas, on January 17, 1996, from pneumonia that was a complication of leukemia. ¹⁶ Newspapers across the country published extensive obituaries that celebrated her oratory, her defense of the Constitution, and the role she played in inspiring generations of minority women in politics. "She left Congress after only three terms, a mere six years," the editors of the New York Times wrote. "No landmark legislation bears her name. Yet few lawmakers in this century have left a more profound and positive impression on the nation than Barbara Jordan." ¹⁷

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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JORDAN, Barbara Charline | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

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Barbara Jordan emerged as an eloquent and powerful interpreter of the Watergate impeachment investigation at a time when many Americans despaired about the Constitution and the country. As one of the first African Americans elected from the Deep South since 1898 and the first Black Congresswoman ever from that region, Jordan lent added weight to her message by her very presence on the House Judiciary Committee.

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(1973) Texas Legislative Black Caucus Formed 

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(1973) Texas Legislative Black Caucus Formed 

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As the number of African Americans serving in Congress grew, a long-desired movement to form a more unified organization among black legislators coalesced. When Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan entered the House of Representatives in 1955, he joined black Members William Dawson of Illinois and Adam Clayton Powell-the largest delegation of African Americans on Capitol Hill since Reconstruction. "In Congress, there was little, if any communication between Dawson and Powell," Diggs noted. "Their styles were different. In terms of exercise between them, there was not any." ¹⁵ Diggs keenly felt the isolation endured by black Members due to their small numbers in Congress and, in some cases, an inability to connect on a personal level. Frustrated that black Representatives lacked a forum to discuss common concerns and issues, Diggs proposed the organization of the Democratic Select Committee (DSC) at the opening of the 91st Congress (1969-1971), maintaining that the DSC would fill a significant void by fostering the exchange of information among the nine African Americans serving in Congress, as well as between black Representatives and House leadership. "The sooner we get organized for group action, the more effective we can become," Diggs remarked. ¹⁶ The informal group held sporadic meetings that were mainly social gatherings and had no independent staff or budget.

Newly elected Members and beneficiaries of court-ordered redistricting, William (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri, Louis Stokes of Ohio, and Shirley Chisholm embraced the concept of a group for black legislators to "seize the moment, to fight for justice, to raise issues too long ignored and too little debated"-all of which quickly translated into a more influential association for African-American Members. ¹⁷ Representative Clay and Stokes formed a fast and enduring friendship. Their close personal relationship boosted momentum to craft a permanent organization. Stokes drew upon his efforts to forge an independent political organization within his own district. "The thrust of our elections was that many black people around America who had formerly been unrepresented, now felt that the nine black members of the House owed them the obligation of also affording them representation in the House," Stokes explained. He added that "in addition to representing our individual districts, we had to assume the onerous burden of acting as congressman-at-large for unrepresented people around America." ¹⁸

With the opening of the 92nd Congress (1971-1973), the number of black Representatives rose to 13-the greatest number of African Americans ever to serve simultaneously in Congress. The DSC met on February 2, 1971, and accepted a recommendation put forth by Clay to create a nonpartisan, formal network for African-American Members. ¹⁹ Charles Rangel of New York, who narrowly defeated longtime Representative Powell in 1970, thought of a new name for the group: the Congressional Black Caucus. ²⁰ The CBC elected Diggs as its first chairman. "Black people have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies...just permanent interests," Clay declared-a theme that set the tone for the CBC during its formative years and evolved into its motto. ²¹ Unlike many Members of Congress, Clay surmised, the participants in the new caucus did not owe their elections to traditional liberal or labor bases of support. "We were truly uninhibited, really free to decide our own issues, formulate our own policies, and advance our own programs," Clay recalled. "Our mission was clear. We had to parlay massive voting potential into concrete economic results." ²²

In the midst of its transition to a more formal organization, the CBC waged its first public battle during the early months of 1971. ²³ Upset with President Richard M. Nixon's refusal to meet with the group, African-American Members made national headlines when they boycotted the January 1971 State of the Union address. "We now refuse to be part of your audience," Clay wrote on behalf of the caucus, explaining that it perceived the President's persistent refusal to grant them a White House meeting as symptomatic of the administration's abandonment of African-American interests. ²⁴ The group won a public relations victory when Nixon agreed to a March 1971 meeting. "Our people are no longer asking for equality as a rhetorical promise," Diggs declared. "They are demanding from the national Administration, and from elected officials without regard to party affiliation, the only kind of equality that ultimately has any real meaning-equality of results." 25 Press coverage provided instant national recognition for the CBC. 26 The CBC thereafter skillfully used such tactics to wield clout and build a reputation as a congressional irritant. ²⁷

A rapid transformation took place in the organization's early years as it began a maturation process. Heavy expectations were placed upon the group, initially leading the CBC to adopt a collective approach to representation to present a unified voice for black America. 28 The CBC collected and disseminated information on African-American preferences regarding policy, assisted individual black Americans with a range of requests by providing casework services, and spoke on behalf of special interest groups within the black community. ²⁹

Countervailing currents pushed and pulled at the CBC membership, who represented diverse constituencies and practiced individual legislative styles. Representative Diggs, a strong backer of the collective leadership model, attempted to organize a national black political convention in 1972. Ultimately, the caucus declined to sponsor the event for fear it would lead to future obligations in which the CBC would not have direct oversight. ³⁰ Shirley Chisholm's 1972 presidential campaign also proved disuniting. The only woman among the CBC's founders, Chisholm claimed that her gender, in addition to her willingness to form coalitions with liberal whites, Hispanics, and women, irritated her CBC colleagues. Indeed, some felt she betrayed the unified mission of the caucus by reaching out to other groups and undermined the effectiveness of the organization by placing gender above race. Only Ronald Dellums and Parren Mitchell of Maryland publicly endorsed Chisholm for President. ³¹

Given the burdens and tensions that arose from collective representation, the organization shifted its emphasis. CBC members began classifying themselves as "just" legislators-moving away from the national spotlight and back to responding to the needs of their constituencies. ³² That shift in priorities occurred largely under Stokes's leadership after he succeeded Diggs in 1972 as CBC chairman. ³³ During his two terms leading the CBC, Stokes downplayed the role of the caucus as a champion of African-American issues. "We had to analyze what our resources were, what we should be doing, and how best to do it," he explained. "And our conclusion was this: if we were to be effective, if we were going to make the meaningful contribution to minority citizens in this country, then it must be as legislators. This is the area in which we possess expertise-and it is within the halls of Congress that we must make this expertise felt." ³⁴

According to political scientist Marguerite Ross Barnett, after spending its early years reacting to events, the CBC entered another stage of maturation in 1975 when it sought to foster a proactive, anticipatory method for crafting a legislative agenda. Key elements of the earlier organizational strategies informed this approach. By balancing collective leadership with individual representation, the CBC fully embraced the challenge of the dual role African-American legislators faced-speaking for the concerns of black America while simultaneously representing unique constituencies. Political scientist Carol Swain maintains that the group followed this blended leadership approach into the 1990s. ³⁵

During this period the CBC also confronted questions about its identity and core values. In 1975, Fortney (Pete) Stark, a white Member representing a congressional district in Oakland, California, with a substantial African-American population, asked to join the all-black caucus. After intense deliberation, the group rejected Stark's application. "The caucus symbolizes black political development in this country," CBC Chairman Charles Rangel explained. "We feel that maintaining this symbolism is critical at this juncture in our development." ³⁶ The CBC retained its unwritten rule to limit membership to African Americans but briefly allowed whites to join as nonvoting associates. In 1988, 41 white Representatives joined the CBC when the caucus instituted its new policy. ³⁷
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Creation and Evolution of the Congressional Black Caucus | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

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As the number of African Americans serving in Congress grew, a long-desired movement to form a more unified organization among black legislators coalesced. When Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan entered the House of Representatives in 1955, he joined black Members William Dawson of Illinois and Adam Clayton Powell-the largest delegation of African Americans on Capitol Hill since Reconstruction.