This week in Black history

* P.B.S. Pinchback, union officer and politician, was sworn in as the first Black governor of Louisiana after Henry Clay Warmoth was impeached for "high crimes and misdemeanors" on this day. Pickney Benton Stewart Pinchback was born on May 10, 1837. He was one of 10 children born to a White Mississippi planter and former slave. At the age of 12, Pinchback started out as a cabin boy and worked his way up to steward on canal and steamboats that traveled the Mississippi, Missouri, and Red Rivers. In 1861, during the Civil War, he ran the Confederate blockade on the Mississippi to reach Federal-held New Orleans. Pinchback became the only Black officer in the Union-controlled Louisiana Native Guards. After the war, Pinchback became active in Republican Party politics. He was elected to the state senate in 1868 and then was named president pro tempore; he later became lieutenant governor upon the death of the incumbent (Oscar Dunn) in 1871. Pinchback served as acting governor when Warmoth was impeached because of corruption. Pinchback served for 35 days, and 10 acts of the legislature became law during that time. He died on Dec. 21, 1921, in Washington, D.C

December 10, 1950--

* Dr. Ralph J. Bunche was the first Black to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on this day. Bunche was awarded the Peace Prize for his efforts toward working for peace in the Middle East as under-secretary general for special political affairs (1955-70) of the United Nations. He also directed the UN peacekeeping efforts in the Suez (1956), The Congo (1960) and Cyprus (1964). He served in the U.S. State Department prior to joining the UN. Born in Detroit, Bunche worked his way through the University of California at Los Angeles and graduated in 1927. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1934. He also won the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1949. Bunche died December 9, 1971.