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October

Black Women's History Calendar

The Black Women's History Timeline is a dynamic and empowering resource that highlights the monumental contributions of Black women throughout history. From trailblazing leaders and activists to innovators in science, culture, and business, this timeline offers a curated journey through their achievements and legacy. Each month, we spotlight key figures, events, and movements that have shaped the course of history and continue to inspire future generations. This timeline not only celebrates Black women's resilience, brilliance, and leadership but also educates and empowers communities to honor their invaluable impact on the world.

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October 3, 1904

Mary McLeod Bethune opens her first school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida

October 8, 1993

Toni Morrison becomes the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

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October 6, 1917

Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights leader and voting rights crusader, helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964), is born. 

October 9, 1823

Mary Shadd Cary, first black woman editor in North America, “Provincial Freeman” (1853) in Windsor, Canada, who helped black freed slaves know their rights, is born.

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October 12, 1908

 Ann Petry, reporter for African-American newspapers in 1930s, wrote The Street, first African-American novel to sell more than a million copies (1946), is born.

October 12, 1916

Alice Childress, actress, “Anna Lacasta” (1944), playwright, “A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ But A Sandwich” (1973), is born.

October 13, 1897

Edith Sampson, lawyer and first black American to be appointed as a United Nations delegate, and the first to be elected U.S. circuit judge, is born.

October 15, 1906

Victoria Spivey, record producer and blues singer in 1920s, who played a featured role in “Hallelujah”(1920), which had an all-black cast, is born. 

October 18, 1917

Mamie Clark, psychologist who established the Northside Center for Child Development (1946) with her husband, Dr. Kenneth Clark, for the mental hygiene of the whole child, is born.

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October 24, 1896

Marjorie Joyner, who helped develop and manage more than 200 Madam C. J. Walker beauty schools by 1919, added professional status to the occupation, and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt and other leaders in civil rights struggles, is born.

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October 24, 1915

Letitia Woods Brown, a pioneer in researching and teaching African-American history who completed her Ph.D. at Harvard in 1966, served as the primary consultant for the Schlesinger Library’s Black Women Oral History Project, and co-authored Washington from Banneker to Douglass 1791-1870, is born.

October 26, 1911 

Mahalia Jackson, the internationally acclaimed gospel singe who sang at the 1963 March on Washington, is born.

October 31, 1896

Ethel Waters, singer who recorded more than 250 sides after debut (1921) and an unsurpassed vocalist and stylist with perfect pitch, is born.

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