Today in “Hidden” History

Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for August 12:

DateTypeEvent
1890After the Compromise of 1877 and a lengthy campaign of terrorist violence to establish Democratic Party-rule in the Mississippi had succeeded, a constitutional convention composed almost entirely of white Democrats created and adopted the fourth (and current) Mississippi state constitution to specifically disenfranchise, isolate, and marginalize the state's African American population. Unlike the previous constitution, the 1890 constitution did not go to the people of the state at large for their approval and ratification. The convention created, approved, and ratified it all on its own initiative. The new constitution was utilized by the Democrats and the state government, in conjunction with terrorist violence, to marginalize and prohibit Black Mississippians from participating in the state's civil society until the 1960s and 1970s. Mississippi was the first, but not the only U.S. state at the time that created a new constitution specifically for the purpose of disenfranchising their African American voters; South Carolina followed suit in December 1895 under its Democratic governor in replacing its 1868 state constitution. As with Mississippi's current 1890 constitution, the 1895 South Carolinian constitution is still in use today. Mississippi’s 1890 constitution effectively granted the Democratic Party-controlled state government free rein to prevent almost all African Americans from voting and casting ballots, in addition to forcing African Americans to attend separate schools (almost always deliberately of substandard quality), forbidding them to marry people of other ethnic groups, or to bear arms for self-defense. In the 1950s and 1960s, following investigations by the United States government, these discriminatory provisions were ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court to have violated the rights guaranteed to American citizens under the tenets of the U.S. Constitution, thus rendering them legally unenforceable. However, it would take another 20 years to formally remove them from the state's constitution, nearly a century after they were enacted. Learn more.
1891Lillian (Evans) Evanti, one of the first African American women to become an internationally prominent opera performer, is born into a prominent Washington, D.C. family. Her father, Wilson Evans, was a medical doctor and teacher in the city. He was the founder of Armstrong Technical High School and served many years as its principal. Anne Brooks, Evanti’s mother, taught music in the public school system of Washington D.C. Evanti received her education from Armstrong Technical High School and graduated from Howard University in 1917 with her bachelor’s degree in music.  A gifted student and performer, she was able to speak and sing in five different languages. Evanti, a lyric soprano, began singing professionally in 1918.  Her career progressed slowly until she moved to France in 1925 where she became the first African American to sing with a European opera company. In 1941, Evanti began performing at The National Negro Opera Company, the first black opera company established by Mary Cardwell to provide a venue for African American performers.  A series of Company performances of La Traviata, where Evanti sang the part of Violetta, was hugely successful and attracted over 12,000 people. Over her career Evanti performed in twenty four operas. Learn more.
1903After a white mob attempted and failed to lynch a Black man, armed white residents engaged in a racial reign of terror that forced all Black residents to flee Whitesboro, Texas. The mob went from house to house in the town’s Black neighborhood, destroying the homes, beating the Black people inside, and ordering all of them to leave Whitesboro. Black people fled by train that night, with contemporary news sources reporting that “outgoing trains on all roads were filled” with Black people. The death toll is unknown as authorities made no effort to protect Black residents. A few days later, armed white men rounded up the last 17 remaining Black people in town, tied them to trees, whipped them mercilessly, and again ordered to leave town. Contemporary reports noted that after the conclusion of this violence, not a single Black person remained in Whitesboro. Learn more.
1922American businesswoman, publisher, and model Ophelia DeVore is born. DeVore graduated from Hunter College High School and went on to New York University, majoring in mathematics and minoring in languages. She was the first model of African-American descent in the United States. In 1946, determined to create a new market for non-white women in the U.S., DeVore would establish The Grace Del Marco Agency, the first agency for non-white models. In the agency's early days, it was a stepping stone for countless household names; Diahann Carroll, Helen Williams, Richard Roundtree, Cicely Tyson and others. Racism was rampant in New York's fashion business and the Grace Del Marco Agency was one of the few places non-white models could gain work. Additionally, DeVore was the CEO and publisher of The Columbus Times newspaper in Columbus, Georgia, a Black-owned newspaper which she ran from the 1970s until retiring in 2009. Learn more.

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Author Talk w/ Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster

May 24, 2022 @ 7:00 pm 8:30 pm EDT

Click Here to Register for this Event at Ridgefield Library

Todd Brewster and Marc Lamont Hill talk about their new book, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial JusticeMr. Hill will be joining by Zoom and Mr. Brewster will be in person. read more

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