The Methodist Episcopal Church founds Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio. The University is later sold to the1991"> African Methodist Episcopal Church. Wilberforce is the second collegiate institute founded for blacks in the country.

Booker T. Washington, former slave and founder of the1991"> Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, was born on this date in Franklin County, Virginia. Washington thought it was best for Blacks to learn a trade and addressed a majority White audience with his "Atlanta Compromise". He stated that Blacks would be content with working and producing with their hands. Washington was popular with the White population because of his conservative views. He became an advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt and was the first Black to ever dine at the White House.

Inventor Granville T. Woods was born free on this day in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio was a free state. Woods went on to invent the automatic air brake, an improved steam boiler-furnace, and the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph.

Newspaper writer and editor T. Thomas Fortune was born on this date in Marianna, Florida. Fortune wrote for the1991"> New York Age for 20 years. With this Black publication, he was able to protest and speak out against lynchings and racial discrimination. He also edited the Negro World and co-founded the Afro-American League, which was a forerunner for the NAACP.