Idaho Bulletin 230-7-2
February 6, 2007
SUBJECT:
EOP - National Black History Month
TO: All
Employees, NRCS, Idaho
Purpose. To provide information
on National Black History Month
Expiration Date.
September 30, 2007
Action required by:
October 20, 2006
February is the month
specifically set aside each year to recognize black history and the impact it
has in shaping our nation.
The annual “Black History
Month” celebration is sponsored by the Association for the Study of
Afro-American Life and History (ASALH) in Washington, DC, which was founded in
1915. Each year, the ASALH designates the official theme for the month.
ASALH dedicates its 2007 national theme;
"From Slavery to Freedom: The Story of Africans
in the Americas”
to the struggles of peoples of African descent to achieve freedom and equality
in the Americas during the age of emancipation.
The
struggle from slavery to freedom represents one of the major themes in the
history of the African diaspora. Africans experienced emancipation during the
course of the nineteenth century. In the United States, the rebirth of freedom
resulted from what was at the time the world’s most destructive civil war, a war
in which liberated slaves and free Blacks played a vital role in determining the
victor and securing their own liberty.
During February, we recognize
the struggle of African Americans during slavery and their fight to freedom. I
encourage all Idaho NRCS employees to observe Black History Month with
appropriate activities that honor those historic figures who strived to achieve
freedom, equality and justice -- their contributions have helped shape our
society today.
African Americans have made substantial contributions to the laws, culture and
society of Idaho. A sample of historic events (taken in part from “Idaho Ebony:
The Afro-American Presence in Idaho State History”) include:
1805 York travels with Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark through Idaho. York was Clark’s slave.
1860 Blacks are among the many miners, explorers,
trappers, soldiers and cowboys plying their trade in Idaho. Rhodes Creek in
Clearwater County is named after miner
William Rhodes,
whose fortune equaled $80,000.
1864 John West, “Dean of colored Pioneers in Idaho,”
moves to Boise from Philadelphia.
1870 The Desert Land Act encourages many Black Mormons
to move to Idaho.
1879 George Washington Blackman, a miner, arrives in
Hailey. Blackman Peak in the White Cloud Mountains is named after him.
1892 The 25th Infantry Regiment, a black
unit, is brought from Missoula, Montana to put down labor unrest in the Coeur
d’Alene mining district.
1899 Jennie Hughes becomes the first Black to graduate
from the University of Idaho.
1903 The
African-American League and the Women’s Athenian Club, both of which work for
equal rights are founded in Boise.
1908 St. Paul Baptist Church is founded in Boise.
1910 The Census lists 135 Blacks living in Ada County.
1913 S.F. Bailey, a Boise lawyer, begins to practice.
1919 The
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People forms a Boise and
Pocatello chapter.
1952
Reginald Reeves is the first Black to graduate from the University of Idaho law
school. He joins an Idaho Falls law firm.
1964
Dorothy Johnson, a Pocatello resident, wins Miss Idaho USA.
1968
Idaho’s first civil rights rally was held at the Statehouse after Martin Luther
King Jr.’s assassination.
1969 Idaho
passes a civil rights bill. The Idaho Human Rights Commission is created.
1972 Dr.
Mamie Oliver is the first Black professor at Boise State University.
1973 Les
Purce wins a seat on the Pocatello City Council, Idaho’s first Black elected
official.
1974 Boise
Mayor Dick Eardley declares Boise’s first Negro History Week.
1981 Les
Purce is named director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
1986
Cherie Buckner is the first Black woman to be a member of the Boise Junior
League.
2003 Joe
B. McNeal, Mountain Home, was the first Black Idaho Mayor elected.
2004 Jerome Mapp elected Boise City Council President (elected to City
Council in 1997).
/s/
RICHARD SIMS
State Conservationist
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