Contemporary Black History Terms

Term Definition

Herbert Hoover 31st president of the United States during the Great Depression, laizze faire attitude made him unpopular

Hoovervilles Sordid clusters of shacks made of tin, cardboard and burlap next to railroad tracks and dumps

Walter Francis White led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for almost a quarter of a century and directed a broad program of legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement. H

Charles Hamilton Houston Black lawyer who helped play a role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws and helped train future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. Known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow", he played a role in nearly every civil rights case before the Supreme Court between 1930 and Brown v. Board of Education

Thurgood Marshall Best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education, a decision that desegregated public schools. Became first black supreme court justice in 1967.

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938)

Supreme Court decision holding that states that provide a school to white students must provide in-state education to blacks as well. States can satisfy this requirement by allowing blacks and whites to attend the same school or creating a second school for blacks.

“The Bronx Slave Market” (1935) An article in the Crisis, an expose on the exploitation of black domestic workers during the Great Depression written by Ella Baker and Marvel Cooke

Dr. Matilda A. Evans Mobilized black parents, professionals and religious and business leaders to persuade the state board of health to provide free inoculations and immunization shots to black children

Sipuel v Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Court decided that the state of Oklahoma must provide instruction for Blacks equal to that of Whites, requiring the admission of qualified black students to previously all-white state law schools [Precursor to Brown v. Board of Edu]

Sweatt v. Painter (1950) State of Texas made a new law school so that they wouldn’t have to integrate but Supreme Court found that the institution was not equal to the University of Texas’s Law School [Precursor to Brown v. Board of Edu]

Terrell Law Law in Texas that banned black people from Democratic Primaries

Nixon v. Herndon Supreme Court found that the Texas Democratic primary was unconstitutional

Smith v. Allwright Ended all white primaries all together

Daisy Adams Lampkin President of the Negro Women’s Franchise League a group dedicated to fighting for the vote

Juanita (Jackson) Mitchel Helped found the City-Wide Young People’s Forum,

organization encouraged young people to combat unemployment, segregation and lynching

Directed NAACP youth program from ’35-‘28 Directed the NAACP’s voter registration campaign Practiced

Ella Baker Cofounded the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League in Harlem Assistant field secretary for the NAACP Director of NAACP branches and built membership Joined New York Urban League

Negro Women’s Franchise League Suffragist group Daisy Lampkin was President of

Clarence Mitchell Chief lobbyist for the NAACP for nearly 30 years Lobbied to secure the passage of a comprehensive series of civil

rights laws: the 1957 Civil Rights Act, the 1960 Civil Rights Act, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act.[2]

George Schuyler Founded the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League in Harlem

The young Negroes’ Cooperative League in Harlem

federation of local groups founded by black journalist and anarchist George Schuyler, that sponsored the growth and development of local consumer cooperatives and buying clubs in major cities throughout the country

Fannie B. Peck Helped found the Detroit Housewives League

Rev. William H. Peck Pastor of 2,000 member Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

President of Booker T. Washington Trade AssociationBethel African Methodist Episcopal

Big church pastor was Rev. William H. Peck

Booker T. Washington Trade Association

Organized in 1930 by a small group of Detroit business and professional men headed by William H. Peck.

Purpose of the organization was to promote the development of local businesses.

Detroit Housewives League Formed by Fannie B. Peck and 50 black women An organization that combined economic nationalism and black

women’s self-determinationM.A.L Holsey Secretary of the National Negro Business League

Consolidated spending power of Harlem housewives to persuade businesses to hire black women and children

National Negro Business League Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1900 by Booker T. Washington, with the support of Andrew Carnegie.

"to promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro." It was recognized as "composed of negro men and women who have achieved success along business lines

By 1901 spread to New York, and established 320 chapters across the United States.

Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States

Elected four times and served from March 1933 to his death in April 1945

Lead the United States during economic depression and WWII. Built a New Deal Coalition that realigned American politics after

1932, as his New Deal domestic policiesThe New Deal Programs in response to the Great Depression, and focused on the

"3 Rs": Relief, Recovery, and Reform. That is Relief for the unemployed and poor; Recovery of the economy to normal levels; and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

Series of domestic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936,

Laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term (1933–37) of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

Reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land and to kill off excess livestock.

Purpose was to reduce crop surplus and raise the value of crops. Created the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to oversee

the distribution of the subsidiesExtension Service and County Agricultural Conservation Committees

Held local control of the AAA and was supposed to represent all farmers but the county agents were usually planters and excluded black people

National Industrial Recovery Act (NRA)

Federal law intended to promote the revival of manufacturing by allowing cooperation among industries

Created the National Recover Administration Temporarily suspended antitrust laws, established minimum

wages, eliminated child labor, maximized working hours, and strengthened labor unions.

Gave the President regulatory power over pipelines, interstate and foreign transport of petroleum and petroleum products

Declared unconstitutionalthe National Recovery Administration (NRA)

Administered the National Industrial Recovery Act and attempted to develop fair competition codes for discrete industries or lines of business.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Provided funds for local and state relief operations to restart and expand programs

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Built segregated camps to employ young men and remove them from the poverty of urban areas

Public Works Administration A large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes.

Built large-scale public works such as dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools.

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Temporary agency created to help people through the winter of 1933-1934

Eleanor Roosevelt First lady who was considered an ally to black people, opposed segregation and left Daughters of the American Revolution after the organization refused to let black opera singer perform

Publically called for equal opportunity for black people and pushed it politically

Daughters of the American Revolution

lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in United States' independence

Marian Anderson Black Opera singer not allowed to perform at Daughters of American Revolution

Harold Ickes Former president of the Chicago chapter of the NAACP Secretary of the Interior who Roosevelt asked to take on the task

of ensuring that African Americans received fair treatmentClark Foreman Brought on by Ickes to ensure African Americans received fair

treatment Recruited highly trained African Americans into government

positions Supervised New Deal projects for the Department of the Interior,

the state parks, the interdepartmental committee on Negro affairs, and the power division of the Public Works Authority

Daniel Roper 7th U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Made efforts to bring African Americans into government positions

Harry Hopkins 8th U.S. Secretary of Commerce One of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers One of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief

programs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Made efforts to put African Americans in government positions

Eugene Jones First Executive Secretary of the National Urban League Under his direction it expanded its campaign he implemented

boycotts against firms that refused to employ blacks, pressured schools to expand vocational opportunities for young people etc.

Member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet, under the Department of Commerce

National Youth Administration New Deal agency in the United States that focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Mary McLeod Bethune Member of Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet, under the National Youth Administration

William H. Hastie Employed by the Department of the Interior, part of Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet

Robert Weaver Employed by the Department of the Interior, part of Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet

Ira De A. Reid Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet/ Social Security Administration

Lawrence W. Oxley Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet/ Worked for the Department of Labor

Ambrose Caliver Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet/ WPA and Office of Education

Federal Council on Negro Affairs (Roosevelt’s black cabinet)

Informal group of African-American public policy advisors to United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was supported by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

Most members were not politicians but community leaders, scholars and activists, with strong ties to the African American community.

E. Franklin Frazier American sociologist. Studied black families and was part of the debate on social policy

Charles S. Johnson Sociologist and editor of Opportunity the Journal of the Urban League

Opportunity (Journal) The Urban League’s Journal

Carter G. Woodson Historian and member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and through his scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

Lorenzo Greene Historian and member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and through his scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

Benjamin Quarles Historian and member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and through his scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

John Hope Franklin Historian and member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and through his scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

Association for the Study of Negro Life and history

scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

Aintheus Taylor Historian and member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and through his scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

Monroe Work Historian and member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and through his scholarly work emphasized racial pride, achievement and autonomy

Gunnar Myrdal Swedish Social scientist who led the study into Black life called An American Dilemma

An American Dilemma (1944) Profoundly affected public understanding of how racism undermined progress of African Americans and helped set the agenda for the CR movement

Social Security Administration

Lawrence A. Oxley

Second New Deal Set of laws

Social Security Act (SSA) Provided the rudiments of a social welfare system as well as unemployment and retirement insurance

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)Works Progress Administration

Oscar De Priest

Arthur W. Mitchell

Pittsburgh Courier

Robert Vann

Senator Ellison D. Smith

Mayor Burnet Maybank

Harry Hopkins

Lincoln Tunnel

Tribourough Bridge

Bonneville and Boulder Dams (Hoover Dam)Federal Art Project

Federal Music Project

Federal Theatre Project

Federal Writers’ Project

Aaron Douglas

Charles Alston

Richmond Barthe

Sarggaent Johnson

Archibald Motley Jr

Augusta Savage

Savage School of Arts and Crafts

Savage Studios and Uptown Art LaboratorySt. Louis Argus

St. Louis American

Fletcher Henderson

Duke Ellington

Count Bassie

Cab Calloway

Swing

Bebop

Dizzy Gillespie

Charlie “Bird” Parker

The Amos n Andy Show

Race Films

Stephin Fetchit

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

Hattie McDaniels

Oscar Micheaux

Chicago Renaissance

Arna Bontemps

Richard Wright

Philadelphia Independent

The “Jones” Family

Fair Play Committee

The Negro Soldier

Gone With the Wind

Gospel

Mahalia Jackson

The New Negro Art Theatre

Negro Dance Group

Edna Buy

Hemsley Winfield

Katherine Dunham

Billie Holiday

Charles White

Elizabeth Catlett

Jacob Lawrence

Federal Arts Project

Richard Wright

Native Son

James Baldwin

Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

Jesse Owens

Joe Louis Brown

Jackie Robinson

Negro American League

Nation of Islam

Moorish Science Temple of AmericaWallace D. Fard/ Master Farad Muhammad/ Wali FaradThe Secret Ritual of the Nation of IslamElijah Muhammad

Father Major Jealous Divine

Peace Mission Movement

New Day Journal

Double V. Campaign

A Philip Randolph

March on Washington Movement

Benajamin O. Davis Jr

Congress of Racial Equality

James Farmer

Bayard Rustin

Ralph Bunche

House Un-American Activities Committee

Executive Order 8802

Horace Pippin

Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)William H. Hastie

Southern Regional Council (SRC)

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)Rosa Parks

Ruth Powell

Marianne Musgrave

Juanito Morrow

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Cold War

Paul Robeson

Henry Wallace

Harry S. Truman

Executive Order 9981

Adam Clayton Powell

I Love Lucy

Shelly v Kramer

Constance Baker Motley

State of Missouri ex. Rel Gaines v. CanadaSipuel v. Board of Regents of University of OklahomaSweatt v. Painter

Leon A. Ransom

Briggs v. Elliot

Brown II

Emmett Till

Claudette Colvin

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Montgomery Improvement AssociationMartin Luther King Jr.

Stanley Levison

Browder v. Gayle

Southern Christian Leadership Confrence (SCLC)Civil Rights Act of 1957

Little Rock Central High

President Eisenhower

Greensboro Sit in

Sit in Movement

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)Freedom Rides

Robert Parriss Moses

Election of 1960

John F. Kennedy

Robert Kennedy

Executive Order 11063

Lyndon B. Johnson

Committee on Equal Employment OpportunityBrowder v. Gayle

James Meredith

Fred Shuttlesworth

Eugene “Bull” Connor

Laurie Pritchett

The Albany Movement

Fannie Lou Hamer

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (AMHR)

Project C for Confrontation

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

James Bevel

I Have a Dream Speech

March on Washington for Jobs and FreedomCivil Rights Act of 1964

Robert Bob Moses

Council of Federated OrganizationsMississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)Voting Rights Act of 1965

March from Selma to Montgomery

Dorothy Irene Height

16th Street Baptist Church

Malcolm X

Muslim Mosque

24th Amendment

Great Society

Stokely Carmichael

Charles V. Hamilton

Vietnam War

Senator Barry Goldwater

Council of Federated OrganizationsFloyd McKissick

Lowndes County (Mississippi) Freedom OrganizationJames H. Cone

Rev. Albert Cleage Jr.

Huey P. Newton

Organization for Afro American Unity

March Against Fear

Black Power

Hurbert G. Brown

National Council of Churches

Anna Hedgeman

J. Oscar Lee

James Breeden

Benjamin Payton

Black Manifesto

James Forman

Eldridge Cleaver

Soul on Ice

J. Edgar Hoover

COINTELPRO

Ten Point Program

Fred Hampton

Angela Davis

Soledad Brothers

Jonathon Jackson

Free Angela

Attica Prison

Watts Riot

Newark Riot

Detroit Riot

National Advisor Commission

Otto Kenner

Edward W. Brooke

Roy Wikins

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

Office of Economic Opportunity

Head Start

Upward Bound

VISTA

War on Poverty

New Careers Program

Job Corps

Community Action Program

War in Vietnam

Viet Cong

Project 100,000

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Muhammad Ali

Chicago Freedom Movemetn

Mayor Richard Daley

Marquette Park

Poor People’s Campaign

Civil Rights Act of 1960

Mayor Henry Leob

James Earl Ray

Black Arts Movement

Sonia Sanchez

Nikki Giovani

Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti)

Imamu Amiri Baraka

Larry Neal

Black Arts Repertory Theatre

LeRoi Jones

Black Fire

Maya Angelou

James Baldwin

The Fire Next Time

Negro Digest/ Black World

Hoyt Fuller

John Johnson

Naomi Long Madgett

Lotus Press

Dudley Randall

Broadside Press

Gwendolyn Brooks

Margaret Walker

Sterling Brown

Third World Press

Ed Bullin

Robert Chrisman

Nathan Hare

The Black Scholar

Lorraine Hansberry

King of Blues

Archie Sheep

Ornette Coleman

Pharoah Sanders

Eric Dolphy

Thelonious Monk

John Coltrane

Aretha Franklin

James Brown

Berry Gordy

Jesse Jackson

Orangeburg Massacre

Higher Education Act of 1965

Yale’s Black Student Alliance

Intro to Black Studies

Ron Karenga

Election of 1968

Eugene McCarthy

Hubert Humphrey

Richard Nixon

Environmental Protection Agency

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Moynihan Report

Family Assitance Plan (FAP)

Busing

Southern Strategy

Senator George McGoven

Watergate

Gerald Ford

Ronald REagon

Vernon Jordan

Carl Stokes

Richard G. Hatcher

Gary National Black Political ConventionCharles Piggs

Maulana Karenga

Shirley Chisholm

National Conference of Black MayorsJimmy Carter

Patricia Harriss

Andrew Young

Ernest Green

Jacob Lawrence

William ARtis

Norman Lewis

Elton Fax

John Houseman

Rose McClendon

Harlem Federal Theatre Project

John L Lewis

Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO)National Mediation Board

Louise “Mama” Hariss

I.N. Vaugh Company in Richmond

International Ladies Garment Workers UnionTobacco Workers Organizing CommitteeThedosia Simpson

Miranda Smith

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of AmericaJames Forde

Scottsborro Boys

Angela Herdon

Communist Party’s International Labor DefendPowell v. Alabama (1932)

Norris v. Alabama (1935)

Arthur Mitchell

National Negro Congress

Tuskegee Study

Fred D. Gray

NAACP Legal Defense Fund