Today in Black History: May 2nd
1845 – Macon B. Allen Admitted to the Bar
Macon Bolling Allen is believed to be the first Black man in the United States who was licensed to practice law. Allen faced a few challenges on his way to becoming a lawyer as he was refused on the grounds that he was not a citizen, though according to Maine law anyone “of good moral character” could be admitted to the bar. He then decided to apply for admission by examination. After passing the exam and earning his recommendation he was declared a citizen of Maine and given his license to practice law on July 3, 1844.
Allen passed the Massachusetts Bar Exam on May 2, 1845. Shortly afterwards he and Robert Morris, Jr., opened the first black law office in the United States. In 1873 he was appointed as a judge in the Inferior Court of Charleston and one year later was elected judge probate for Charleston County, South Carolina. He continued to practice law right until his death at age 78.
1920– First Game of National Negro Baseball League
The first game of the National Negro Baseball League was played in Indianapolis on May 2nd, 1920. The league was formed by Andrew “Rube” Foster, former player and manager for various teams, who led a group of team owners to create National Negro League. Between 1931 and 1937 a number of teams were formed and disbanded, of which, the Negro American League in the East and the Negro National League in the West survived. The 1937 winners of each league met in a world series of Black Baseball. After news broadcasted about the Negro Baseball League other white baseball teams began signing many stars of the Black baseball leagues changing the face of baseball by 1976.
1990– Death of William Levi Dawson
William Levi Dawson was an African-American composer, choir director, and professor specializing in black religious folk music. In 1912, Dawson ran away from home to study music full-time at the Tuskegee Institute, participating as a member of Tuskegee’s band and orchestra, learning to play most instruments. Dawson earned his bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition and continued onto further education earning his master’s degree from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He was then invited to direct the School of Music at the Tuskegee Institute, later becoming the director of Tuskegee’s 100-voice choir that made headline performances at the grand opening of the Radio City Music Hall in New York. Further performances at the White house occurred, breaking the race-barrier at Washington D.C.’s Constitution Hall. Several compositions and orchestral works later, Dawson died on May 2nd, 1990.
2008- Death of Mildred Loving
Loving v. Virginia, a legal case on interracial marriage between a “white” and a “colored” person, was unanimously struck down in 1967. Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a woman of mixed African-American and Native American ancestry, traveled from Virginia to Washington D.C. to get married, as the state of Virginia prohibited interracial marriage. After returning to Virginia at the home of Mildred’s parents, police entered the Loving’s bedroom and arrested them for violating the state’s ban on interracial marriage. The Loving’s pleaded guilty and were sentenced to a year in jail. The Loving’s filed suit to overturn convictions on the grounds, it was denied, so the Loving’s wrote for a unanimous Court and Chief Justice Earl Warren reversed the Loving’s convictions. This decision invalidated laws against interracial marriage in 15 other states. They sustained a long marriage before Mildred Delores Loving’s death on May 2nd, 2008.
