New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania history buffs: You think you know black history, American history, the history that happened in your respective states.
Here are 20 facts to test your knowledge of Mid-Atlantic Black American history. (Hint: no Google search.)
New Jersey
- Which black baseball player from New Jersey was the first to win the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards in his career?
- A.Willie Banks
- B. Larry Doby
- C. Don Newcombe
- Who is the black astronaut whose name appears on a high school in New Jersey’s second largest city, Jersey City?
- A. Guion Bluford
- B. Mae Jemison
- C.Ronald McNair
- Which New Jersey borough became the first independent, self-governing black municipality north of the Mason-Dixon line?
- A. Barrington
- B. Edge of the lawn
- C. Tavistock
- In what year was New Jersey’s first black congressman, Donald Payne, first elected?
New Jersey:Day of Invisible Pain: New Jersey mother fights rising Black suicide rate in memory of her son
New Jersey:New Jersey’s new Black Heritage Trail will boost pride and tourism. Here’s how | Notice
Delaware
- Who is the famous jazz musician buried at Mount Zion Cemetery in Wilmington?
- A. Donald Byrd
- B. Clifford Brown
- C. Cab Calloway
- Which singer was once a student at the historically black school Delaware State University in Dover?
- A. Bob Marley
- B.Betty Roche
- C.SZA
- Which Wilmington school did Martin Luther King speak at during his only visit to Delaware in 1960?
- A. Howard High School
- BPS-Dupont High School
- C. Wilmington High School
- Who was the first black elected official in the state of Delaware?
- A.Henrietta Johnson
- B.Thomas Postles
- C. William Winchester
Delaware:New database highlights Delaware’s African-American cemeteries
Delaware:Colleges are shrinking. But HBCUs like Delaware State are riding their own wave
new York
- Which New Yorker was the first black woman to be appointed a Federal Court judge?
- A.Jane Matilda Bolin
- B. Constance Baker Motley
- C. Mary Johnson Lowe
- Which New York school did Ernie Davis, the first Black Heisman Trophy winner, play for?
- A. University at Buffalo
- B. United States Military Academy
- Syracuse University
- When was David Dinkins, New York’s first black mayor, elected?
- Which Rochester native is the first black woman to officiate an NFL game?
- A. Beatrice Howard
- B. Harriet Washington
- C. Maia Chaka
new YorkRochester’s civil rights-era newspapers failed the city’s black community.
New York:Black History Month: Book Recommendations That Shaped New York’s Black Community Leaders
Pennsylvania
- In which Pennsylvania city was Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest Greek-letter organization for black people, founded?
- A. Harrisburg
- B. Pittsburgh
- C. Philadelphia
- What is the only black-owned radio station in Pennsylvania?
- Who was the first black woman from Pennsylvania to be elected to Congress?
- A. Fauset crystal bird
- B.Summer Lee
- C. Joanna McClinton
- Which graduate of the historically black school Lincoln University in Chester County became famous for literary works such as “The Weary Blues” and “The Ways of White Folks”?
- A.Charles Fuller
- B.Langston Hughes
- C. August Wilson
Pennsylvania:Black troops, civil war, summer camp: Philadelphia suburbs fight for more than a community center
Maryland
- When did Kurt Schmoke become the first elected black mayor of Baltimore?
- Which Maryland native was the first black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest?
- A. Augusta Chissell
- B. Irene Morgan Kirkaldy
- C. Pauli Murray
- Which city became Maryland’s first African-American municipality when it was incorporated in 1922?
- A. The land of sugar
- B.Preston
- C. Highland Beach
- Which Olympics did Silver Spring native Dominique Dawes compete in as a member of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team known as “The Magnificent Seven”?
- A. 1988 Olympic Games
- B. 1992 Olympic Games
- C. 1996 Olympic Games
Maryland:Born during slavery, spicy stuffed ham now graces every table in Southern Maryland
More:Americans stood up to racism in 1961 and changed history. This is their fight, in their own words.
Black History Month Quiz Answers
New Jersey
1. C. Don Newcombe was born in Madison and raised in Elizabeth. Newcombe, a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1949. In 1956, he became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and Cy Young awards in the same season.
2. C. Ronald E. McNair University High School in Jersey City is named in honor of the second black man to fly in space. killed during space shuttle Challenger launch in January 1986.
3. B. Lawnside in southern New Jersey was developed in 1840 as a community of freed and escaped slaves and was incorporated as a municipality in 1926.
4. B. Donald Payne, a native of Newark, was elected to House of Representatives in 1987. He served for more than two decades until his death in 2012. He was succeeded by his son Donald Jr., who still holds this seat.
Delaware
1. B. Trumpeter Clifford Brown, a Wilmington native who took the jazz world by storm in the 1950s before dying in a car accident in 1956, is among some 1,000 people dating from the Civil War who are buried in Mount Zion Cemetery.
2. C. SZA (born Solána Imani Rowe), Grammy-winning singer and songwriter, attended Delaware State University where she studied marine biology.
3. A. Howard High School (now known as Howard High School of Technology) was where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to 1,300 people at a public rally sponsored by the Wilmington branch of the NAACP.
4. B. Thomas Postles, laborer and small businessman, was elected to the Wilmington City Council in 1901.
new York
1. B. Constance Baker Motley in 1966 was appointed judge of the Federal Courtserving in the United States Southern District of New York for nearly 40 years until his death in 2005.
2. C. Syracuse University was the school that Ernie Davis attended where he played as a halfback for the football team. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1961. However, Davis, who grew up in Elmira, never played in an NFL game after being diagnosed with leukemia and would die from the disease in 1963 at the age of 23.
3. B. 1989 was the year David Dinkins was elected the first black person to serve as mayor of New York City. He served one term before losing re-election in 1993.
4. C. Maia Chaka first served as linesman during a September 2021 game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets. Chaka is a 2000 graduate of Edison Career & Technology High School in Rochester.
Pennsylvania
1. C. Philadelphia is the city where Sigma Pi Phi, the first Greek letter society for black Americans, was founded in 1904. It is designed for mid-career or older professionals. Famous members include Martin Luther King Jr. and Arthur Ashe.
2. B. WURD is a talk radio station which broadcasts from Philadelphia on AM and FM frequencies.
3. B. Summer Lee, who grew up in North Braddock, was elected last year to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, which encompasses Pittsburgh and much of Allegheny County.
4. B. Langston Hughes was a 1929 graduate of Lincoln University. The school library is named after himand the school has the personal library left by Hughes on his death in 1967.
Maryland
1. Baltimore native Kurt Schmoke became mayor of his hometown in 1987. He served as the city’s highest-ranking official until 1999.
2. C. Pauli Murray, born in Baltimore, was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1977, after a full life that included graduating first of her class from Howard University Law School and co-founding the National Organization for Women.
3. C. Highland Beach was founded as a summer home for blacks in 1893 by Major Charles Remond Douglassthe son of Frederick Douglass, after he and his wife were refused service at a restaurant at a nearby resort.
4. C. Dominique Dawes participated in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as part of the women’s gymnastics team that won the first-ever gold medal for the United States in the women’s team competition.
Ricardo Kaulessar is a culture reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Atlantic How We Live team. For unlimited access to the most important news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter: @ricardokaul
