James Weldon Johnson died of injuries received in an auto accident in Maine.

The Prince Edward County, Va. Board of Supervisors abandoned the school system to prevent integration.

Sit-in demonstrations and a passive resistance began in Cairo, IL, where demonstrations against segregation in recreational facilities continues for several months.

Massachusetts slaved petitioned the state legislature for freedom; the bill was passed but the Governor would not approve it.

Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to receive an honorary degree from Harvard University.

Samuel Nabrit is the first African American to serve on the Atomic Energy Commission

John R. Lynch, former congressman from Mississippi, was elected the temporary chairman of the Republican convention and became the first black person to preside over the deliberations of a national political party.

Slavery is abolished in the US territories.

Wellington Web is elected the first African-American mayor of Denver, CO

Katherine Dunham, anthropologist, choreographer and dancer was born in Chicago, Il.