1848 – Lewis H. Latimer Is Born
Lewis H. Latimer, born on September 4, 1848, to formerly enslaved parents, rose from modest beginnings in Massachusetts to become a pioneering inventor. After serving in the Union Navy, he taught himself drafting while working at a patent law firm. In 1874, he received his first patent and later assisted Alexander Graham Bell with drawings for the telephone.
Latimer went on to play a key role in electric lighting, authoring a book on Thomas Edison’s electrical system and becoming a founding member of the Edison Pioneers—the group’s only African American. He died in Flushing, New York, on December 11, 1928, at the age of 80.
1908 – Richard Wright Is Born
Richard Wright, born in Mississippi in 1908 to formerly enslaved parents’ children, rose from poverty and hardship to become one of the most influential African American writers of the 20th century. After moving north during the Great Migration, he joined Chicago’s black intelligentsia, briefly aligned with the Communist Party, and published his first works through federal support.
His groundbreaking novel Native Son (1940) became a best seller, ushering in “ghetto realism” literature. Wright’s later works, including Black Boy and The Outsider, explored race, protest, and identity, influencing generations. He lived in Paris from 1946 until his death in 1960.
1957 – Black Students Banned from Little Rock Central High School
In 1957, nine Black students—later known as the “Little Rock Nine”—were selected to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, following the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Chosen through a rigorous interview process, they were organized and supported by activist Daisy Lee Bates.When they attempted to enter the school, they were met with angry mobs and blocked by the Arkansas National Guard. Federal intervention by President Eisenhower eventually secured their enrollment on September 25, 1957, under military protection.
