U.S. Supreme Court decision (Plessy v. Ferguson) upheld doctrine of separate but equal and began age of Jim Crow.

Denise Majette, former member of Congress, attorney, judge, and politician, was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 18, 1955 to Voyd Lee and Olivia (Foster) Majette.  In 1976, Majette graduated from Yale University.  She earned her law degree from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina in 1979.

After graduating, Majette joined the Legal Aid Society in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  During this period, she also served on faculty at the Wake Forest Law School. Majette relocated to Stone Mountain, Georgia in 1983.  During the early1980s, she held positions as a clerk and an assistant to judges.  From 1989 to 1992, Majette returned to private practice as a partner in the Atlanta law firm of Jenkins, Nelson, and Welch.  During this period, she also served on the boards of various community organizations.  In 1992, she was named an administrative law judge at the Georgia state board of workers compensation.  The following year, Georgia Governor Zell Miller appointed her judge of the State Court of DeKalb County.  Majette held the judgeship for nine years.

Majette resigned from her judgeship in 2002 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia’s 4th congressional district.  In a major upset, she defeated five term incumbent Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary.  Majette was helped by Rep. McKinneys charge that President Bush deliberately ignored pre-September 11 intelligence reports indicating a terrorist attack was imminent.  Capitalizing on those charges and an endorsement from Zell Miller who was then a U.S. Senator, Majette won 58% of the vote in the Democratic Primary against McKinney and 77% of the vote in the general election against Republican opponent Cynthia Van Auken.

Majette was appointed to the Budget, Education and Workforce, and Small Business Committees.  She also served as Assistant Democratic Whip.  Majette opposed President George W. Bushs record on domestic violence and education.  She also opposed the Republican-sponsored Medicare Prescription Drug Act of 2003.

After only one

Death of William A. Leidesdorf (38), in San Francisco.

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was a renowned educator and African American leader of the 20th century. She was born on July 10, 1875 in South Carolina to parents who had been former slaves. She was one of 17 children in her family, and all of them, including Mary, worked at the cotton plantations along with their parents. Mary would often accompany her mother when she worked at white people’s houses nearby. Here she first became exposed to their toys and books and expressed a fascination with them. She decided that she wanted to learn how to read and write and began to attend a one room black school nearby called Trinity Mission School. She was the only one in her family to pursue an education and had to walk five miles to get to school.

She initially planned to become a missionary in Africa but was told that they did not need any black missionaries, so she decided to go into teaching instead. In 1898, she married a teacher who worked with her named Albertus Bethune. The couple moved to Savannah, Georgia and had a son named Albert, where Mary started doing social work and then moved to Florida to run a mission school. She and Albertus separated, and she then went on to found the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona, Florida. When she started out, the school just had 5 students but it went on to enroll more than 250 students over time. This school was later merged with the Cookman Institute for Men and became known as the Bethune-Cookman College. At the time, this was one of the few places that offered a place for African Americans to pursue a college education.

Over the course of her career, Mary McLeod Bethune became involved in government service. She was invited by President Calvin Coolidge to participate in a conference on child welfare and by President Herbert Hoover to serve on the Commission on Home Building and Home Ownership, as well as the committee on child health. In 1935, she was appointed as a special advisor to President Roosevelt for minority affairs. She also started up

Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France. He will win 39 professional tennis titles including the 1983 French Open.

President Nixon rejected the sixty demands of the Congressional Black Caucus, saying his administration would continue to support jobs, income and tangible benefits, the pledges that this society has made to the disadvantaged in the past decade. The caucus expressed deep disappointment with the reply and said the Nixon administration lacked a sense of understanding, urgency and commitment in dealing with the critical problems facing Black Americans.

Ernie Davis, star running back at Syracuse University; first black player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. Died on May 18, 1962 of leukemia before playing a pro game.

Reginald Martinez Jackson, Born May 18, 1946 is born in Wyncote, Pa. He will be better known as Reggie Jackson, star baseball player for the Oakland As and New York Yankees. He will set or tie seven World Series records.

Death of Mary McLeod Bethune (79), educator and civil rights leader, Daytona Beach, Florida.

Mary McLeod Bethune was the fifteenth of seventeen children of Samuel and Patsy McLeod, slaves on the McLeod Plantation in Mayesville, South Carolina. Born after the Emancipation, Mary McLeod was a free woman. Seeing the overriding importance of real freedom and equality, she became a powerful force in the emerging struggle for civil rights. Beginning as an educator and founder of a school which bears her name, she became the valued counselor to four presidents, the director of a major government agency, the founder of a major organization for human rights (the National Council of Negro Women), and a consultant to world figures seeking to build universal peace through the United Nations.

Mrs. Bethune obtained prominence as an educator. She Founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (now Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904, and served as president from 1904-1942 and from 1946-47. Her work, building the Daytona Normal School for Negro Girls into Bethune-Cookman College, brought her into contact with important political and financial figures. Under President Cavin Coolidge, and later Herbert Hoover, the national government began utilizing Mrs. Bethunes considerable experience for the National Child Welfare Commission.. However, it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who recognized the important role Mary McLeod Bethune could play in the implementation of his New Deal policies. Roosevelt created the office of Special Advisor on Minority Affairs in 1935. This position later became a part of the National Youth Administration (NYA).

Was a leader in the black womens club movement and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. Was a delegate and advisor to national conferences on education, child welfare, and home ownership.Was Director of Negro Affairs in the the National Youth Adminstration from 1936 to 1944. Served as consultant to the U.S. Secretary of War for selection of

Richard Brooks , (born May 18, 1912, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.

Born May 18, 1946, Reggie Jackson of Pennsylvania belonged to a family of eight with the head of the family working as a tailor. The parents soon separated and Jackson was sent to live with his father.

Distracting himself from the tragedy that he had recently been through, the young individual indulged into different sports. Starring as a running back for the Cheltenham High School football team, Jackson excelled at baseball as a power-hitting first baseman and pitcher. As a senior, he hit .55 on the field and concentrated all of his energies into the game. Once he had set his mind on making a career out of baseball, even the news of his father’s imprisonment did not distract him from his goal.

The ambitious player was awarded a football scholarship to Arizona State University after graduation but baseball continued to inspire him and he returned to the field in his sophomore year during which he batted .327 and set a record for the most number of home runs. His performance impressed many and in the 1966 amateur draft, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics to play baseball on a professional level.

Even though he began his career playing for the minor leagues, Jackson soon emerged as a regular player for the club and after its move to Oakland in 1968, he turned a new leaf with 29 home runs and various strikeouts.

In his second full season, Jackson set a record with 37 home runs by the All-Star break and led the American League in runs scored. However, his career came to a slow down the following year followed by a plausible comeback in the 1971 All-Star Game with a smashing home run. Jackson also helped the Athletics win the first of five consecutive division titles.

Missing the 1972 World Series due to a hamstring injury, Reggie Jackson returned to the field in 1973 with 32 home runs, 117 RBIs and 99 runs, eventually winning the title of the Most Valuable Player.  Contributing towards the playoffs the same year and helping his team beat the New York Mets, the star was named World Series Most

Louis-Dantès Bellegarde was born on May 18, 1877 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.