On this day, Charlie Sifford made history by winning the Long Beach Open, becoming the first African American golfer to win a significant professional golf tournament. Although the Long Beach Open was not an official PGA Tour event, the victory was groundbreaking, as it marked a major step toward integrating the sport.
Sifford later became the first Black golfer to earn a PGA Tour card in 1961 and went on to win official PGA Tour events. His courage and perseverance paved the way for future generations of Black golfers, including Tiger Woods. In recognition of his contributions, Sifford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
On this day, Andrew T. Hatcher made history as the first African American associate press secretary to a U.S. president, serving under President John F. Kennedy. His appointment marked a significant milestone in the inclusion of African Americans in senior White House communications roles.
In addition to his political contributions, Hatcher was also a founding member of 100 Black Men of America, an organization dedicated to mentoring, education, and empowerment in the Black community.
While traveling near Marion, Arkansas, soul singer Sam Cooke, gospel great Lou Rawls, and a young Bobby Womack were involved in a serious automobile accident. The crash claimed the life of their driver, Edward Cunningham, and left Rawls in a coma for several days. Despite the tragedy, all three musicians would go on to become legends in soul and R&B music, helping to define the sound of a generation.
After being captured for leading the Southampton, Virginia slave rebellion, Nat Turner was interviewed in jail by Thomas R. Gray, a Baltimore lawyer. During this interview, Turner detailed the motives, visions, and events leading to the August 1831 uprising, one of the most notable slave revolts in American history. Gray later published the account as “The Confessions of Nat Turner”, a controversial and widely circulated document that shaped public understanding of Turner’s resistance and the broader struggle against slavery.
Carmen McRae, a celebrated American jazz singer, pianist, and composer, died on November 10, 1994, at the age of 74. Known for her distinctive phrasing, emotional depth, and witty interpretation of lyrics, McRae was considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century.
Over a career spanning more than four decades, she recorded over 60 albums and performed alongside legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday, who was a major influence on her style.
On this day, a white supremacist mob violently overthrew the multiracial, elected government of Wilmington, North Carolina, in what is now recognized as the only successful coup d’état in U.S. history. The mob burned down the offices of The Daily Record, a Black-owned newspaper, and murdered an estimated 60 to over 300 Black residents—though the exact number is still unknown due to the lack of records and mass graves.
The insurrection was planned by white Democrats to reverse the gains of Reconstruction, suppress Black political power, and reassert white control. They installed their own leaders in local government by force, driving Black officials and their white allies out of town. This event marked a turning point, ushering in decades of Jim Crow laws and voter suppression across the South.
It’s a sobering reminder of how white supremacist violence was used to dismantle Black progress—and how history was often rewritten to obscure those truths.
On this day, the National Benefit Life Insurance Company was organized in Washington, D.C. by Samuel W. Rutherford. At a time when most mainstream insurance companies excluded African Americans, National Benefit provided vital financial services to the Black community.
It grew to become the largest Black-owned insurance company in the United States for many years, playing a key role in economic empowerment and community development during segregation and beyond.
George Henry White, an outspoken Republican and the last African American Congressman of the Reconstruction era, represented North Carolina’s “Black Second” district. On this day, November 10, 1898, the Wilmington Insurrection (also known as the Wilmington Massacre) occurred—a violent white supremacist coup that overthrew the elected, biracial government of Wilmington, NC.
White, who served two terms in Congress (1897–1901), was known for:
After white supremacist violence and voter suppression dismantled Black political power in North Carolina, White left the state, famously stating:
“This is perhaps the Negroes’ temporary farewell to the American Congress, but let me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up someday and come again.”
On November 10, 1891, prolific African American inventor Granville T. Woods was granted a patent for an electric railway system. Known as the “Black Edison,” Woods’ invention improved how electric power was supplied to streetcars and trains, making mass transit more efficient and reliable.
Throughout his career, Woods held over 50 patents, many of which revolutionized railway and telegraph communication systems. His work laid the foundation for modern electrical transit and significantly contributed to the growth of public transportation in the United States.
The African Union Society of Newport, Rhode Island was formally established on November 10, 1780, making it the first documented Black mutual aid society in the United States. Founded by free African Americans, the society provided financial support, burial services, and community assistance to its members during times of illness, death, or hardship.
This organization laid the groundwork for future Black self-help institutions and was a critical early expression of Black autonomy, solidarity, and resistance in post-colonial America.
Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian author, environmentalist, and human rights activist, was executed by the Nigerian military regime along with eight other Ogoni activists (known as the Ogoni Nine) after a controversial trial. Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent movement against the environmental destruction of the Niger Delta by oil companies, especially Shell, and the Nigerian government’s neglect of the Ogoni people.
His execution drew global condemnation and led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations. Today, Ken Saro-Wiwa is remembered as a powerful voice for environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and freedom of expression in Africa.
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