today in black history

May 18, 2026

In 1896, U.S. Supreme Court upholds Plessy v. Ferguson, beginning Jim Crow or de jure segregation and ending Reconstruction.

Icons Receive Presidential Medal

POSTED: February 16, 2011, 12:00 am

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Poet Maya Angelou, basketball great Bill Russell and civil rights champion Rep. John Lewis were among a group of Americans who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the nation, in a ceremony at the White House.





Source: The White House

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