On December 24, 1992, Mike Espy was confirmed as the first Black Secretary of Agriculture in U.S. history. Appointed by President-elect Bill Clinton, Espy officially took office on January 22, 1993. His appointment marked a historic moment as he became the first African American and the first person from the Deep South to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Prior to this role, Espy served as a U.S. Representative from Mississippi, where he focused on agricultural and rural issues. As Secretary, he aimed to reform USDA programs to better serve small farmers, minorities, and underrepresented communities in rural America.

On this day, approximately five thousand African Americans departed Edgefield County, South Carolina, in what became known as the “Edgefield Exodus.” Fleeing systemic exploitation, racial violence, and political repression in the post-Reconstruction South, these migrants sought safety and opportunity, ultimately settling in Arkansas. The exodus was one of several mass movements of Black Southerners during this era, laying the groundwork for later migrations in pursuit of civil rights and economic freedom.

Tennessee initiated the modern Jim Crow era by enacting a law mandating segregated railroad cars, becoming the first state to formalize such racial segregation after Reconstruction. This law marked the beginning of a wave of legalized segregation across the Southern United States. Following Tennessee’s lead, other states instituted similar laws: Florida (1887), Mississippi (1888), Texas (1889), Louisiana (1890), Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Georgia (1891), South Carolina (1898), North Carolina (1899), Virginia (1900), Maryland (1904), and Oklahoma (1907).

Note: These laws, collectively known as “Jim Crow laws,” laid the legal groundwork for decades of systemic racial discrimination and were not dismantled until the mid-20th century civil rights movement.

The United Order of True Reformers, an African American fraternal organization, was officially established in Richmond, Virginia. Founded by William Washington Browne, a former slave, the organization provided insurance, banking, and social services to the Black community at a time when such resources were largely inaccessible due to racial discrimination. It became one of the most successful Black-owned businesses of its era, notably operating the first Black-owned bank in the United States.

Octavia V. Rogers Albert, an African American author and former enslaved woman, was born. She is best known for her influential book The House of Bondage, published posthumously in 1890. The work collects firsthand narratives from formerly enslaved people in Louisiana, offering a powerful testimony of the horrors of slavery and the resilience of Black Americans during Reconstruction.

On Christmas Day in 1971, Rev. Jesse Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in Chicago. The organization aimed to improve the economic conditions of Black communities through education, business development, and political empowerment. Operation PUSH became a powerful force in the civil rights movement, advocating for social justice and economic equity.