February 1	National Day of Prayer for the African American Family Fr. James Goode, OFM Founder Langston Hughes author b. 1906 1st stamp in U.S. Black Heritage Series Harriet Tubman 1978
February 2 Presentation of Our Lord	Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first African-American student to attend the University of Alabama 1956
February 3 St. Blase - Blessing of the Throats	Mother Mary Lange d. 1882
February 4	Free U.S. Blacks settle in Liberia 1822
February 5 St. Agatha	Clifton W. Wharton, Sr. becomes the first African-American to head an American Embassy in Europe when he is confirmed as ambassador to Romania 1958
February 6	Arthur Ashe d. 1993
February 7	Eubie Blake Baltimore pianist b. 1883
February 8	Joseph C. Price established Livingstone College in N.C. 1882
February 9	Bernard Harris, 1st Black astronaut to walk in space, 1995 St. Cyril of Alexandria
February 10	Wilton D. Gregory installed Bishop Belleville, IL 1994 Terry Steib, SVD ordained Catholic Bishop, St. Louis, MO 1984
February 11 World Day of Sick Our Lady of Lourdes	Dominic Carmon, SVD ordained Catholic Bishop, New Orleans, LA 1993
February 12 Lincoln's Birthday	Judge Allyson K. Duncan - 1st black women on a Appellate Court in N.C. 1990
February 13	Absalom Jones, Leader of America's first Negro Church, d. 1818
February 14 Valentine's Day	Bishop Raymond Caesar, SVD b. 1932 Eunice, LA
February 15 President's Day	Nat "King" Cole singer and jazz pianist d. 1965
February 16	Frederick Douglas elected President of Freedman's Bank and Thrust Co. 1874
February 17 Ash Wednesday	Bessie Smith made first recording for Columbia Records 1923
February 18	Quakers filed first formal protest against slavery 1688 Myrlie Evers-Williams, 1st Woman Chair NAACP 1995
February 19	Curtis J. Guillory ordained Catholic Bishop of Galveston-Houston, TX 1988
February 20	Frederick Douglas spokesman, writer, freedom fighter, d. 1895
February 21 First Sunday of Lent	Julian Bond, President NAACP 1998 Barbara Jordan, State Senator 3-term Congressman, b. Houston, TX 1936
February 22 Chair of St. Peter the Apostle Washington's Birthday	Julius Erving b. Roosevelt, NY 1950
February 23	W.E.B. Dubois, author and historian, b. 1868 Carl A. Fisher, SSJ ordained Catholic Bishop, Los Angeles, 1987
Feburary 24	Rev. Daniel A. Payne, first Black to become a college President, 1811
February 25	Adrienne Mitchell, 1st African American woman to die in combat, Persian Gulf War 1991
February 26	Joshua Johnson, portrait painter, b. Baltimore 1770
February 27	Charlotte Ray, first Black woman lawyer graduated Howard University Law School 1872
February 28 Second Sunday of Lent Martyrs of Alexandria	Phyllis Wheatley, poet, d. 1784 Richard Wright's Native Son is published 1940

Black History Facts courtesy of the
Josephite Pastoral Center
1200 Varnum Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20017
(202) 526-9270
The Josephite Fathers and Brothers





text © 1998-2010 by Rev. Warren J. Savage
Creativity Consultant: Christina Melville thequeenoftheland@verizon.net