bfCallback1756249408518({"Request":{"VirtualSiteSlug":"blackfacts","IsToday":true,"SearchType":"today","SearchResultType":"event"},"Results":[{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Patrick Gaspard\u2019s career in politics and diplomacy spans three decades. Gaspard\u2019s work has involved him in politics at the city and national level and has put him in contact with constituencies traditionally associated with the Democratic Party. As of this writing, Gaspard serves as United States Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. \nGaspard was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haitian parents. His father, a lawyer, moved the family to the African nation after Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba issued an appeal for French-speaking intellectuals of African descent to relocate there after the Congo\u2019s independence. After Lumumba\u2019s death in 1961, Gaspard\u2019s family then moved to New York City, New York when he was three years old.\u00A0 \u00A0\nGaspard got his start in politics in the late 1980s, when he began working as a community organizer. Initially, he focused on issues related to educational reform in New York City. In 1988, Gaspard worked on Jesse Jackson\u2019s presidential campaign. In 1989, he worked on David Dinkins\u2019s New York City mayoral bid.\nDinkins\u2019s victory launched Gaspard\u2019s career in city politics. In the early 1990s, he served as a special assistant in the Office of Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger and special assistant in the Office of Mayor Dinkins. From 1998 to 1999, Gaspard was chief of staff to the New York City Council. \nGaspard\u2019s visibility in New York City politics propelled him onto the national stage. In 2004, he served on Howard Dean\u2019s Democratic presidential primary campaign as national deputy field director. After Dean\u2019s defeat, Gaspard worked as national field director for America Coming Together, which was a progressive political action organization that strived to increase voter participation. \nBeginning in June 2008, Gaspard worked on behalf of another presidential hopeful, signing on as Illinois Senator Barack Obama\u2019s national political director. After Obama\u2019s victory, Gaspard stayed on to serve as associate personnel director of President-elect Obama\u2019s transition team.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/ambassador_patrick_gaspard.jpg","ImageHeight":249,"ImageWidth":375,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"2013-08-26T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":2013,"Month":8,"Day":26,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":5679,"FactUId":"84f55340-7c59-475b-b28c-2d78022df552","Slug":"gaspard-patrick-1967","FactType":"Event","Title":"Gaspard, Patrick (1967- )","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/gaspard-patrick-1967","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"From precocious five-year-old piano player in the 1890s to internationally known choral director, composer, concert pianist, and poet, R. Nathaniel Dett became champion for preservation of the black spiritual which he called authentic American folk music: He dedicated his life to finding a musical form to bridge the gap between the music\u2019s simple origins and its concert performance.\nRobert Nathaniel Dett was born October 11, 1882 in Drummondville, Ontario, Canada, a town founded prior to the American Civil War by fugitive slaves from the U.S.\u00A0 His early experience included absorbing spirituals his grandmother sang, playing piano in church, and studying piano locally. He then majored in piano and composition at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio.\u00A0 In 1908 Dett was its first African American to graduate from Oberlin after winning Phi Beta Kappa honors. His formal education continued throughout his life including studies at Harvard University where his 1920 essay \u0026ldquo;Negro Music\u0026rdquo; won a prize. In 1932 he received a Master\u2019s degree from the Eastman School of Music (1932). \nIn 1911 Dett published his only book of poetry, The Album of the Heart.\u00A0 Three years later he began touring as a concert pianist and soon after was widely acclaimed by critics.\u00A0 In 1916 he married Helen Elise Smith, a pianist and the first black graduate of the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (later Juilliard School of Music.)\nAfter teaching at several black colleges in the South Dett became the music director at the Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia in 1913 and would remain there until 1932. His 40-voice Hampton Singers performed at Carnegie Hall in 1914. Later Dett-led choirs gained fame singing across the United States and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Dett\u2019s choirs performed at the White House before Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.\u00A0 In 1930 Dett and his choir toured five European countries. \u00A0\nDett published more than 200 piano, vocal, and choral works. Major chorus works include Chariot Jubilee (an","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/robert_nathaniel_dett.jpg","ImageHeight":350,"ImageWidth":243,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"2011-08-26T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":2011,"Month":8,"Day":26,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":5943,"FactUId":"9d8f4f14-6dfb-4e5e-977f-170205855edd","Slug":"dett-r-nathaniel-1882-1943","FactType":"Event","Title":"Dett, R. Nathaniel (1882-1943)","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/dett-r-nathaniel-1882-1943","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"In the article below, Fort Worth historian Richard Selcer introduces us to the African American community which has been a presence in this city since its founding in 1849.\nFort Worth, Texas\u2019s black community has a distinctive if not unique history.\u00A0 Fort Worth was a western community (slogan: \u0026ldquo;Where the West Begins\u0026rdquo;) populated overwhelmingly by white Southerners. That means it combined the racial prejudices of the latter with the greater tolerance and openness of the former.\u00A0\u00A0 \u00A0\nSlavery existed in Fort Worth from its beginnings as a tiny settlement on the bluff overlooking the Trinity River. Colonel Middleton Tate Johnson, one of the founding fathers of the original Army outpost (1849-53), owned a plantation of 640 acres northwest of the fort worked by 150 slaves. When Tarrant County was created by the Texas legislature on August 26, 1850, the settlement had a population of 599 whites and sixty-five blacks. The 1860 federal census showed the towns population had declined to 500, but the number of slaves had nearly doubled to 115. The record does not show any free blacks in the little community. \nWhen the Civil War ended, major slave owners like E.M. Daggett and Otis Isbell freed scores of slaves, not so much because Emancipation was the law, but because they could no longer afford to feed and care for so many dependents.\u00A0 A number of African Americans left Fort Worth for east Texas, where blacks were more numerous and jobs, more plentiful. Those who stayed continued working in menial jobs as \u0026ldquo;servants\u0026rdquo; (room and board but not wages) or tenant farmers. \nIn 1873, in an unusual move for that era, the city council hired Hagar Tucker, a former slave, as \u0026ldquo;special policeman\u0026rdquo; to the black community.\u00A0 Tucker performed a difficult job successfully but was nonetheless let go within a year when the economy went into a tailspin. Tucker was the first and last black officer in the Fort Worth Police Department until the 1950s. \nAlso during Reconstruction, John Pratt became the first black businessman of record in Fort Worth","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/powell__i_m__terrell_high_school__fort_worth.jpg","ImageHeight":256,"ImageWidth":300,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1850-08-26T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1850,"Month":8,"Day":26,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":6264,"FactUId":"2bcc8f1f-e93f-4b82-865f-d61e2cdb5375","Slug":"fort-worth-texas-where-the-west-and-the-south-meet-a-brief-history-of-the-citys-african-american-community-1849-2012","FactType":"Event","Title":"Fort Worth, Texas, Where the West and the South Meet: A Brief History of the City\u0027s African American Community, 1849-2012","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/fort-worth-texas-where-the-west-and-the-south-meet-a-brief-history-of-the-citys-african-american-community-1849-2012","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Carolina in the 20th century, Mel Watts is a current member of the United States House of Representatives. Watts was born on August 26, 1945 in the small community of Steele Creek in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and attended high school in Charlotte. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1967. Watt was a Phi Beta Kappa and was president of the business honors fraternity. He also has a J.D. degree from Yale University Law School as well as honorary degrees from North Carolina A\u0026amp;T State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Bennett College and Fisk University.\nWatt had a varied career before serving in Congress. Between 1971 and 1992 he practiced law with the firm formerly known as Chambers, Stein, Ferguson, and Becton.\u00A0 He was also a small business owner and managed the campaigns of Harvey Gantt for Charlotte City Council, for Mayor of Charlotte and for the United States Senate from North Carolina. Watt also served in the North Carolina Senate from 1985 to 1987.\u00A0 He did not seek a second term, postponing his political activity until his children were high school graduates. Watt was known during his single term as \u0026ldquo;the conscience of the senate.\u0026rdquo; \nMelvin Watt was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1992 as a Democrat to represent the 12th Congressional District.\u00A0 He is now in his 8th term.\u00A0 Watt is a member of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. In the fall of 2004 he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, a position he held for two years.\u00A0 He is also a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Democratic Study Group, and the Steering Committee. Watt was a cosponsor of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007.\u00A0 In April 2006 Watt was one of five members of Congress arrested in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. as part of a protest of the","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/watt_melvin.jpg","ImageHeight":280,"ImageWidth":350,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","SponsorId":"c1e5e647-184a-49fc-af93-4b85a727fac9","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/naaap-logo.png","SponsorUrl":"https://boston.naaap.org/cpages/home","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1945-08-26T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1945,"Month":8,"Day":26,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":6918,"FactUId":"5304cc0e-41eb-48c0-950a-8e01cf53ec96","Slug":"watt-melvin-luther-1945","FactType":"Event","Title":"Watt, Melvin Luther (1945- )","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/watt-melvin-luther-1945","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Katherine G. Johnson, Born August 26, 1918.  died February 24, 2020, worked for NASA with the tracking teams of manned and unmanned orbital missions. Ms. Johnson was an Aerospace Technologist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Trained as a mathematician and physicist in West Virginia, she worked on challenging problems of interplanetary trajectories, space navigation, and the orbits of spacecraft. The spacecraft include the Earth Resources Satellite, which has helped locate underground minerals and other earth resources. Ms. Johnson analyzed data gathered by tracking stations around the world during the lunar orbital missions - the Apollo moon missions. Later, she studied new navigation procedures to determine more practical ways to track manned and unmanned space missions. For her pioneering work in the field of navigation problems, she was the recipient of the Group Achievement\nAward presented to NASAs Lunar Spacecraft and Operations team.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2020/02/e93979fc-90c0-42ac-9330-ab780cbec0051.png","ImageHeight":1801,"ImageWidth":1500,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1918-08-26T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1918,"Month":8,"Day":26,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ken@blackfacts.com","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":842,"FactUId":"aed998c1-4240-40f9-9b26-3ff2b6c34b60","Slug":"katherine-g-johnson-is-born","FactType":"Event","Title":"Katherine G. 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1946","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","SponsorId":"c774164e-1b1a-4b35-8157-9ce64ec2e2c6","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/prospanica-logo.png","SponsorUrl":"https://www.prospanica.org/members/group.aspx?code=Boston","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1946-08-26T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1946,"Month":8,"Day":26,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":1813,"FactUId":"edf937e3-af51-4819-aa19-c16614584d79","Slug":"valerie-simpsons-birthday","FactType":"Event","Title":"Valerie Simpson\u0027s 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