Black History Month – February 23, 2016

1995 - Melvin Franklin dies at 53

Possibly the greatest bass singer to ever live, Melvin "Blue" Franklin of The Temptations died of complications following a series of seizures in Los Angeles. He was only 53.

1979 - Frank E. Peterson Jr. becomes the first black general in the Marines

Frank E. Peterson Jr. was the first Marine Corps Aviator and held just about every command position, at all levels, of Marine Corps aviation. In 1979 Peterson became the first Black general in the U.S. Marine Corps.

1965 - Constance Baker Motley is elected Manhattan Borough President

Constance Baker Motley was accustom to doing big things in life.  She was the first female hired by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) as a civil rights lawyer.  Motley was responsible for writing the original complaint in the case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1950. The first African-American woman ever to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1965 Motley was elected, Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a Black woman. She succeeded herself after winning an election to serve a full four-year term.  In addition President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, making her the first African American woman federal judge in 1966. She would remain on the bench, including serving one term as chief judge, until her death.