January 1947: Influential Black Americans Richard L. Baltimore, Henry Marrow, Josh Gibson & James Anderson Jr.

Also, marathon runner, author, and television commentator, Kathrine Switzer & author & historian, Taylor Branch

January 1, 1947 (Capricorn): Ambassador to Oman and Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Richard L. Baltimore, born

January 5, 1947 (Capricorn): Marathon runner, author, and television commentator, Kathrine Switzer, born.

In the year 1967 [when my mother was a junior at Brandeis University], she became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an officially registered competitor. 

During her run, the race manager Jock Semple assaulted Switzer, trying to grab her bib number and thereby remove her from official competition.

After knocking down Switzer's trainer and fellow runner, Arnie Briggs, when he tried to protect her, Semple was shoved to the ground by Switzer's boyfriend, Thomas Miller, who was running with her, and she completed the race.  

As a result of her run, the AAU banned women from competing in races against men^.

It was not until 1972 [three years before I was born] that the Boston Marathon established an official women's race.

January 7, 1947 (Capricorn): Army veteran murdered by white males of the right wing, Henry Marrow, born.

Veteran of the Army and known for being shot and killed by whites in a racial confrontation in Oxford, North Carolina, at the age of 23.

His murder and the acquittal of two suspects by an all-white jury were catalysts for a renewal of civil rights actions in the county seat.

Public facilities and businesses had remained segregated six years after passage of national civil rights legislation.

Protests took place after the killing and arson was committed against some white-owned buildings.

The Black community organized to conduct what became an 18-month boycott of white businesses, which ended after the town agreed to end segregation of public facilities.

The events in Oxford also influenced the broader Civil Rights Movement throughout the state and United States.

January 14, 1947 (Capricorn): Author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American Civil Rights Movement, Taylor Branch, born.

The final volume of the 2,912-page trilogy, collectively called America in the King Years, was released in January 2006, and an abridgment, The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement, was published in 2013.

January 20, 1947 (Aquarius): Baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues, Josh Gibson, dies.

In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

January 22, 1947 (Aquarius): Private first class, James Anderson Jr., born.

Anderson was a Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism while serving in Vietnam in February 1967.

When his Medal of Honor was awarded on August 21, 1968, he became the first Black American U.S. Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor while serving in Vietnam.

Joining the U. S. Marine Corps in 1966, Anderson took part in Operation Prairie II.

During this operation, his platoon was advancing through the jungle near Cam Lo Combat Base when they were ambushed by North Vietnamese forces.

Anderson jumped on a grenade thrown by a Vietnamese soldier and was killed in action.

This action saved other Marines' lives, and Anderson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his deed.