BLACK HISTORY IN PENNSYLVANIA

           The following is excerpted from a speech deliver by Sen. Shirley Kitchen on February 1, 2007 

         Black History Month is an annual event in which we commemorate the struggles and victories of African Americans in our history and their contributions to society.

           Carter Goodwin Woodson, an African-American historian, created “Negro History Week” on February 7, 1926. The name was changed to “Black History Week” in the 1960s during the American civil rights movement. The event was expanded to “Black History Month” in 1976.

           Black History Month gives Pennsylvania a great opportunity to recognize prominent African Americans, including many who were born in Pennsylvania or forged their legacy here.

           Singer Marian Anderson of Philadelphia became the first African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera.

           In 1939, after she was turned down from singing at Washington D.C.’s Constitution Hall, which was open to white artists only, Marian Anderson held a concert at the Lincoln Memorial — the same spot where Dr. Martin Luther King would give his famous “I Have a Dream” nearly three decades later.

          The free concert became an early but important moment in the American Civil Rights Movement.

             Robert N.C. Nix Jr., who sat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1984 to 1996, was the first African American chief justice to sit on any state Supreme Court. His father, Robert N.C. Nix Sr., was also our state’s first black congressman.

            Juanita Kidd Stout was the first African American woman to be elected judge in the United States when she was elected to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia in 1959. Years later, in 1988, she was appointed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, becoming the first African American woman to serve on any state Supreme Court.

            Pharmacist Dr. Henry Minton owned Pennsylvania’s first African American-owned pharmacy. He also founded Mercy Hospital in Philadelphia.

           Award-winning CBS journalist Ed Bradley, who passed away last November; comedian Bill Cosby; and baseball Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson were all born here in Pennsylvania.

 

          These men and women have contributed to all aspects of our society, including the arts and comedy, government, science, journalism and professional sports.

           Through our resolution, we Senators can set aside the entire month of February to recognize the many contributions of the African-American community to Pennsylvania and our nation.