Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., a historically African American Greek-lettered sorority, was officially incorporated on this date in 1929. Founded on November 12, 1922, at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, it is the only sorority of the “Divine Nine” established at a predominantly white institution. The organization was created by seven African American women educators with a mission to enhance the quality of life within the community through public service, leadership development, and education.

Two U.S. courts issued temporary injunctions to stop the eviction of approximately 700 Black sharecroppers in Haywood and Fayette counties, Tennessee. The evictions had followed efforts by the sharecroppers to register and vote, highlighting widespread voter suppression and economic retaliation in the Jim Crow South.

On this day in 1960, renowned poet and writer Langston Hughes was presented with the NAACP Spingarn Medal, honoring his outstanding achievements in literature and the arts. During the ceremony, he was celebrated as “the poet laureate of the Negro race” for his profound influence on American culture and his powerful expression of the African American experience.

The “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaign began in Chicago with the picketing of chain stores on the South Side, demanding fair employment opportunities for Black workers. The movement, emphasizing economic activism, quickly spread to cities like New York, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, and persisted throughout the Great Depression. It marked a significant moment in grassroots civil rights organizing and Black economic empowerment.

On this day, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson was honored with the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the NAACP, recognizing his significant contributions to education and civil rights. As the first African American president of Howard University, Johnson played a pivotal role in transforming the institution into a leading center for Black intellectual life and professional training.

On this day in 1928, Bo Diddley was born Ellas Bates on a small farm near McComb, Mississippi, in rural Pike County near the Louisiana border. Raised by his mother Ethel Wilson and later adopted by her cousin Gussie McDaniel, he was the only child of Ethel and Eugene Bates but had three half-brothers and a half-sister. Diddley would go on to become a pioneering force in rock and roll, known for his distinctive rhythm—the “Bo Diddley beat”—which influenced countless artists and helped shape the sound of modern music.

Dr. Miles V. Lynk, a pioneering African American physician, published The Medical and Surgical Observer, the first Black medical journal in the United States. The journal aimed to provide a platform for Black medical professionals during a time when they were excluded from mainstream medical societies and publications.
Location: United States

Josiah T. Walls, the first Black man elected to the U.S. Congress from Florida, was born on this day in 1842. Born into slavery in Virginia, Walls later served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he settled in Florida, where he became a teacher, farmer, and politician. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1870 during the Reconstruction Era, serving three terms. Walls was a strong advocate for civil rights and education for African Americans.