BLACK HISTORY MONTH

FAMILY GUIDE 2 0 2 1 BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 1 A. Maceo Walker was an African American businessman and president of Universal Life Insurance Company and Tri-State Bank in Memphis. He attended Lemoyne High School, and in 1946 Walker and his father co-founded the Tri-State Bank of Memphis primarily to help African American businesses receive loans since many of these enterprises were refused loans by white-owned Memphis banks. We are grateful for A. Maceo Walker’s strides to make Memphis better through financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

February 2 Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 as Isabella, a Dutch-speaking slave in rural New York. Inspired by her conversations with God, Isabella walked to freedom in 1826. In 1828, Isabella moved to New York and soon became a preacher in the Pentecostal tradition. Her faith and preaching brought her into contact with abolitionists and women’s rights advocates, and Truth became a powerful speaker on both subjects. By the end of the Civil War, Truth had met with Abraham Lincoln, petitioned the government to make western lands available to freed blacks, and made countless speeches on behalf of and women.

February 3 Benjamin Hooks was the grandson of Julia Britton Hooks. He was the Executive Director of the NAACP from 1977 to 1992. He grew up in Memphis on Lauderdale and Vance Ave. and attended LeMoyne-Owen College and Howard University. He was a preacher and civil rights leader in non-violent protest during the Civil Rights Era to bring about social change. He had a beautiful marriage to his wife who was also a huge part of his work for over 30 years.

February 4 Fannie Lou Hamer rose from humble beginnings in the Delta to become one of the most powerful voices of the civil and voting rights movements and a leader in the efforts for greater economic opportunities for African Americans. In 1962, while attending a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) meeting, Hamer was challenged to register to vote and thus started her life of dedicated activism. She traveled across the U.S. to advocate for voters’ rights. She appealed to presidents, spoke before legislative bodies and shared podiums with the likes of Malcolm X. BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 5 Benjamin Kellog Sampson graduated from Oberlin College in 1860 and seminary in 1863. After working as a college professor for a few years, B.K. Sampson became an advocate for fighting education inequality in the South. Sampson became the first black principal of Clay Street School (what would become Booker T. Washington High School in 1911) the first school for African Americans in THE CLAY STREET SCHOOL Memphis. He was known to be an extremely gifted orator, and for his B.K. Sampson became the contributions to education throughout Memphis. After serving 17 years at B.T.W., second principal of the school in 1875. Sampson served as the superintendent of black schools. We honor B.K. Sampson today and his significant contributions to the education system in Memphis.

February 6 - 7

BHM Weekend Activity

Take time this weekend to explore some of the black artists who have contributed artwork to Advance Memphis' Art for Jobs fundraiser. Make sure to give them a follow if they're on social media! You can then make some art of your own with the following Black History Month coloring sheets.

Artists to follow:

Brenda Joysmith

Terry Lynn

Chuck Johnson

Carl Scott

Michael Partee

Joshua King

Alexandria Bell

Mosal Morzsart

Jennifer Peete

Vernon Adams

BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 8 Floyd Tyler was born in the Orange Mound community near Lamar and Pendleton. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Tennessee and graduate degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Florida State University. After becoming a professor at The University of Memphis, Tyler founded and is president of Preserver Partners, an alternative investment management firm that manages investment funds for public and corporate pension funds, institutions, foundations, and individual investors. Tyler operates one of the few African American run mutual funds in the country, the Preserver Alternative Opportunities Fund.

February 9 Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman in the U.S. to earn an MS degree and to become a licensed physician. She studied at New England Female Medical College, and upon graduation went to practice medicine in Boston. She went on to work for the Freedmen’s Bureau to provide medical care to freed slaves. Later, she moved to Boston in 1883 and published A Book of Medical Discourses which was dedicated to the medical care of women and children. It was not only the first publication written by an African American author about medicine, but the only book written by a female physician in the 19th century.

February 10 Green P. Hamilton was born in Memphis in 1867 and is known as one of the city's pioneer educators of color. In 1882, he graduated from LeMoyne Normal Institute and completed his education at Rust College and in . Hamilton began teaching in the Memphis city schools in 1884. As principal of Kortrecht High School, the first Negro public high school in the city, Hamilton organized the first African American high school band. He authored two books, The Bright Side of Memphis (1908) and Beacon Lights of The Race (1911). Hamilton Elementary School, Hamilton Junior High School, and Hamilton High School are all named in honor of Green P. Hamilton. BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 11 While many have heard of the name Frederick Douglass, what is typically not highlighted is his deep spiritual life. At the age of thirteen he became a Christian, and henceforth felt that he was put on this earth to advance the gospel by loving his neighbor as himself. By working as an abolitionist, he simultaneously unmasked America’s hypocrisy while working to free millions of slaves. He was driven by his love of Christ, and stated, “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding-women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.” Not only did he help his brothers and sisters escape slavery, but stood for women’s rights, taught slaves to read the New Testament, and became a prominent author and speaker.

February 12 Ida Bell Wells was born into slavery in Holly Springs, MS, and freed by the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. Wells moved to Memphis for better teaching opportunities and began self-publishing articles and writing for African American publications such as the "Evening Star." One of the founders of the NAACP, she was a gifted orator and journalist who became editor and co- owner with J.L. Fleming, of "The Free Speech" and "Headlight," newspapers based inside the Beale Street Baptist Church. Ida B. Wells was a leading activist in the civil rights and women's suffrage movement who left a legacy of quality investigative reporting and advocacy for justice.

February 13 - 14

BHM Weekend Activity

Take a tour of the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum and get a hands- on educational experience about the one of the largest forced migrations in history. Visit slavehavenmemphis.com for more information.

You can also test your Black history knowledge and be encouraged by incredible African American figures with the following inspiring quotes crossword puzzle.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 15 Jimmie Lunceford was an American alto saxophonist, bandleader and the first public high school band director in Memphis. He organized the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, recorded and toured professionally from 1929 to 1949. In 2007, The Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival was founded with the aim of increasing recognition of his contribution to jazz, particularly in Memphis.

February 16 Crispus Attucks was the first known casualty of the American Revolution and the Boston Massacre of 1770. While his life prior to the day of his death is fairly mysterious, we know that he died an American hero, fighting for his country. What we do know about his life is that his father is thought to be Prince Younger, a slave who was brought to America, and his mother is thought to be Nancy Attucks, a Natick Indian.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” - 2 Timothy 4:7

February 17 Lymus Wallace (Rutland) was born a slave to an African mother and her slave master, Thomas Rutland in 1834. He took his first wife's last name and after her death moved their family to Memphis. He gained wealth as a teamster/drayman and became a city alderman. Lymus was the first African American to be elected to city council and served two terms from 1882 - 1890.

February 18 Thomas Oscar Fuller was elected in the North Carolina State Senate in 1898. He won the race despite racial prejudices, and once he was in office, black North Carolinians had hopes that he would push for racial equality, as he was the only African American in the senate. He believed that accommodation was the best way to fight for equality, and that by emphasizing harmony and love between races, equality would eventually come. However, this upset prominent black leaders in the community, as they were rightly itching for change to come. Upon deciding that he could ultimately influence larger groups of people out of office, he left North Carolina and became the minister of the First Colored Baptist Church in Memphis. Fuller had clearly found his calling and became one of the most esteemed black ministers in Memphis. BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 19 Maxine Smith applied to attend college at the University of Memphis in 1957, but was rejected because of her race. She went to attend Spelman College, where notable alums such as Stacey Abrams have attended. Through this rejection from University of Memphis, her attention was brought to the local NAACP chapter of Memphis, which she joined and became secretary of in 1962. Her rejection from U of M also sparked a passion for education in Smith, and she became a leading force in the fight for civil rights by organizing lawsuits, sit-ins, and marches. In 1971, Smith won election to the Memphis Board of Education. Her life is a reminder that God can redeem the very place where you feel rejection.

February 20 - 21

BHM Weekend Activity

Watch this inspiring video as kids read Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

Click to view video: https://youtu.be/RGvpXEj4IUk

OR

Search YouTube for "Students Remember King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech" BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 22 Robert Stevenson Lewis Sr. opened the R. S. Lewis Funeral Home in 1914. The family business improved the quality of life for African-Americans in the community including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Robert Sr. owned Negro American League Memphis Red Sox & financed Martin Stadium (Lewis Park). In the 1950s, Robert Jr. helped establish T.O. Fuller State Park, one of the first open to African- R.S. LEWIS FUNERAL HOME Americans.

February 23 James Meredith was the first African American student to be admitted to the University of Mississippi in 1962, which to that point had been a segregated institution. Just a few years later in 1966, Meredith started the famous March Against Fear in order to highlight continuing racism in the South and encourage black voter registration. He started the march by himself at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis and continued all the way to Jackson, Mississippi. By the time Meredith and other leaders entered Jackson, they were leading an estimated 15,000 marchers making it the largest civil rights march in Mississippi history.

February 24 Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972). Chisholm started her career in early childhood education in , NY, but eventually entered the world of politics in the 1950s. After earning her way into the New York State Legislature and eventually Congress, Chisholm became known as “Fighting Shirley”. She introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and championed racial and gender equality, the plight of the poor, and ending the Vietnam War.

February 25 Thomas Moss opened the People's Grocery located at the intersection of Mississippi Blvd and Walker Avenue in 1889. People's Grocery competed successfully with white owned stores. Like many entrepreneurs, Moss had multiple jobs, delivering mail by day and running the People's Grocery at night. The lynching of Moss, along with the two other owners in 1892, launched Ida B. Wells into investigating and bringing awareness to lynchings in the South. BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 26 Newton Jackson Ford is one of the many well-respected members of the Ford family—a family of influential African American politicians in Memphis. N.J. Ford (1914–1986) was an undertaker and businessman, and his wife Vera (Davis) Ford (1915–1994), were prominent members of the African American community. N.J. Ford ran for the Tennessee House in 1966 but was not elected. He eventually opened N.J. Ford Funeral Home (later changed to N.J. Ford And Sons Funeral Home) in 1932.

February 27 - 28

BHM Weekend Activity

End the month by taking a trip to Memphis’ own Civil Rights Museum and The Lorraine Motel as you and your family explore the storied past of black men & women in our nation and our city. Visit civilrightsmuseum.org for more information.