Black History Month 2025

1909 1910 1911

26 Theodore Roosevelt | 27 William H. Taft | 28 Woodrow Wilson

Redemption Jim Crow Black Power

1910-1940
First Great Migration



United States - Hundreds of thousands of Black Americans moved from the South, to the North.

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January 12, 1910
Bass Reeves Died



Muskogee, Oklahoma - Bass Reeves ('The Real Lone Ranger') was the first (1st) Black American United States deputy Marshal, in the west. Reeves was one of the most colorful, adventurous, and accomplished deputies of his time.

Born in 1838, Reeves was born in slavery. During the Slavery War, his enslaver joined the Confederate Army and brought Reeves. During the war, Reeves escaped. He stayed in Indian Territory. There Reeves learned the Creek and Cherokee languages.

Once the (13th) Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, Reeves returned to Arkansas. There he farmed, until 1875. Due to his language skills, Reeves was recruited for a deputy Marshal job.

Reeves served primarily Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory. During his long career, Reeves made more than 3,000 arrests. Many were dangerous criminals. Reeves shot and killed 14, in self-defense.

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June 25, 1910
The Mann Act Went Into Effect



Washington, D. C. - The Mann Act, or White-Slave Traffic Act, became law. It was passed to stop boxing champion Jack Johnson, a Black American man, from travelling with the white woman, Lucille Cameron.

Whites tried to use Cameron to make a case against Johnson. She refused to help. Whites went to Belle Schreiber. She was a white woman Johnson knew before the Mann Act had passed (1909 and early 1910). In court, she said Johnson was with her. An all-white jury convicted Johnson of being with a white woman.

To escape jail, Johnson fled the country, for seven (7) years. When he came back, federal agents arrested him. Johnson was sent to the Federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. He was behind bars from September 1920, until July 9, 1921.

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