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February 2

The U.S. and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago in

1848, bringing the war between the two

countries, which started in 1845, to an end.

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February 3

African American students in Charlotte, North Carolina, sat at a lunch counter of a Woolworth’s on this day in 1960 to protest the denying of counter service to African Americans unless they stood. Lunch counters of eight local businesses closed in fear.

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February 4

Free African Americans settled and established the new West African nation of Liberia. This began in 1815

when Paul Cuffe, a free African American, took 38

other free African Americans on a voyage to

West Africa at his expense. The

transportation of the Africans was in response

to demands by prejudiced European Americans that free

African Americans were a disruptive force and should be deported to

Africa.

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February 5

The first Chinese New Year celebration in the United States occurred during this

month in 1851.

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February 6

In 1788, Massachusetts, named for the Native American tribe that

lived near Milton River, was admitted to the

union as a state.

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February 7

In 1974, Russell Means of the American Indian

Movement was reelected as president of the Oglala

Sioux tribe at the Pine Ridge, South Dakota,

reservation. At the same time, Joseph American Horse was defeated by incumbent David Long on the vice-presidential ballot.

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February 8

In 1519, Hernan Cortes left Cuba to sail for the Mexican Coast. Cortes was originally sent to

explore Mexico by King Ferdinand of Spain.

reservation. At the same time, Joseph American Horse was defeated by incumbent David Long on the vice-presidential ballot.

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February 10

In 1907, delegates from the San Francisco Board of Education met with President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House

to defend its policy of segregating children of

Chinese, Japanese, Korean descent in separate ‘Oriental

Schools.’ The meeting resulted in several Japanese

American students being able to attend the public schools in

exchange for a more restricted emigration policy

for Japanese wishing to come to the US.

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February 11

In 1909, the NAACP was founded in New York City. It is the oldest civil rights organization in the US

and has fought against discrimination against African

Americans in all aspects of life by bringing lawsuits and organizing

rallies and protest marches.

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February 12

Dorothy Hamill emerged from the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, as a star

after winning a gold medal on this day. Hamill won her gold

medal in figure skating.

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February 14

On or around this date in 1950, Jim Thorpe was declared the greatest US

athlete and football player of the half-century. Thorpe, of Native American

descent, won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912

Olympics. He was an All-American college football player and a

successful major league baseball player.

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February15

The first known scalping of Native Americans by white

settlers occurred in 1725. The scalpings, which were

encouraged by a bounty offered by the city of Boston, took place in New Hampshire. A hunting party in search of

Native Americans came across ten sleeping Native

Americans and scalped each of these people. They then took the scalps to Boston, where they were paid 100

pounds for each scalp.

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February21

While speaking in New York City, Malcolm X (birth name: Malcolm Little; Muslim name: El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) was

shot and killed in 1965. Malcolm X served as the

spokesperson for the African American

Muslim movement, leading the struggle for human

rights in the United States and around the world. He also traveled around the

world to organize Africans around Muslim principles.

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February19

During this month in 1968, Cesar Chavez, president of the United Farm Workers Union, began a fast as a

symbolic act of rededication to the

principles of nonviolence.

Muslim movement, leading the struggle for human

rights in the United States and around the world. He also traveled around the

world to organize Africans around Muslim principles.

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February20

Japanese artist Yoko Ono accepted the Best Album Grammy Award for

1981 on behalf of her late husband, John Lennon, for Double Fantasy. The album was released shortly before his murder in New York City and was performed by both John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

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February26

Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American to be elected US senator. Under

the Radical Reconstruction provisions of the federal and state governments (1865-1876), African

Americans were given the opportunity for the first time to

run for elective office.

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February 27

Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win

an Academy Award for a performance in a motion

picture. McDaniel won the Oscar in 1939 in the Best

Supporting Actress category for her

role in Gone with the Wind. In the movie,

McDaniel played the role of a house servant in the

Southern plantation home of Scarlett O’Hara.

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February 28

The 1992 Senate election opened the door for four female Democrats to take their historic

place among US senators in 1993. By February, their second

month in office, the impact of the female senators was being

felt. The three European

Americans elected were Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer (both from California) and Patty Murray. Carol Mosely Brown, the fourth female elected, was the first African American woman to be elected to the senate.