Today in Black History: June 13th
1850 – American League of Colored Laborers Inaugural Meeting Held
The American League of Colored Laborers (ALCL) was the first black American labor union. Samuel Ringgold Ward (President), Frederick Douglass (Vice President), and Henry Bibb(Secretary) helped organize the union in response to the difficulty black laborers had in joining white unions, known for their work to abolish slavery. On June 13, 1850, the organization assembled for its inaugural meeting in the lecture room of Zion’s church on the corner of Leonard and Church streets. Douglass’s involvement, as well as that of several newspaper editors in the union leadership, earned the organization substantial coverage in the African American press at the time. It was formed as a collective for skilled free craftsmen, and sought to develop agricultural and industrial arts skills among its members, and to encourage African American business.
1908 – Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins Passes
Thomas Greene Wiggins was born May 25, 1849 to Mungo and Charity Wiggins, slaves on a Georgia plantation. He was blind and autistic and could pick out tunes on the piano by the age of four. He made his concert debut at eight, performing in Atlanta.
In 1858, Tom was hired out as a slave-musician, at a price of $15,000. In 1859, at the age of 10, he became the first African American performer to play at the White House when he gave a concert before President James Buchanan. His piano pieces “Oliver Galop” and “Virginia Polka” were published in 1860. Blind Tom Wiggins became an internationally recognized performer. Blind Tom Wiggins gave his last performance in 1905. He died three years later on June 13, 1908 at his manager’s home in Hoboken, New Jersey.
1963 – Robert C. Weaver, “The Negro As An American” Speech Given
Robert Clifton Weaver was born on December 29, 1907 in Washington, D.C. After graduating high school, in the time of racial segregation, Weaver went on to Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degree. He also earned a P.h.D in Economics, completing his doctorate in 1934.
Throughout the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, in the 1930s, Weaver held a series of federal government and academic positions. As such he had become a recognized expert on housing discrimination. On June 13, 1963 in New York City, he gave a speech articulating the position of moderate civil rights advocates who want a racially integrated society.
In 1966, Weaver became the first African American to hold a cabinet post when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him Secretary of the newly created Department of Housing and Urban Development. Weaver also worked for the NAACP and served on the committee before his death in 1997.
