This Week In Black History – June 26, 2025

June 26, 1975 – Samuel Blanton Rosser became the first African American certified in pediatric surgery.

June 27, 1991 – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall announced his retirement.

June 28, 1864 – Fugitive slave laws were repealed by Congress.

June 29 1886 – Photographer James Van Der Zee was born.

June 30, 1921 – Charles S. Gilping awarded the Spingarn Medal for his performance in Eugene O’Neill’s Emperor Jones.

July 1, 1889 – Frederick Douglass named U.S. Minister to Haiti.

July 2, 1872 – Elijah McCoy patented his first self-lubricating locomotive engine. The quality of his inventions helped coin the phrase “The Real McCoy”.