On March 3, 1891, legislation passed creating a Normal and Industrial School in Elizabeth City.
On February 27, 1964, black feminist activist, scholar and educator Anna Julia Haywood Cooper died at the age of 105.
On February 25, 1870, Hiram Revels was seated in the United States Senate.
On February 21, 1933, Nina Simone, often called the “high priestess of soul,” was born in the small town of Tryon in Polk County.
On February 20, 1885, 22 years after Emancipation, freedmen in Edgecombe County incorporated Princeville, the state’s first town founded by African Americans.
On February 17, 1963, American basketball superstar Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York.
On February 13, 1969, African American student activists at Duke University occupied the school’s main administrative building. The takeover of the Allen Building was sparked by the slowness of racial reform at the university.
On February 11, 1813, freedom seeker, writer and abolitionist Harriet Jacobs was born in Edenton.
On February 10, 1937, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist Roberta Flack was born in Black Mountain.
