Dec. 19, 1835: First edition of the Toledo Blade prints an excerpt from a speech by Gov. Robert Lucas, who states, "we have not one word to say in favor of the principle of slavery. We view it, abstractedly, as both a moral and political evil."

1847: Warren AME Church, first black church in Toledo, is established.

1863: Toledo Congressman James M. Ashley (great-grandfather of former U.S. Rep. Thomas Ludlow Ashley) introduces the first bill to end slavery in America.

1915: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter founded, the third in the nation.

1922: Pharmacist Ella P. Stewart arrives in Toledo. She and husband William establish Stewart's Pharmacy.

1927: Albertus Brown dies. He founded the Frederick Douglass Community Center.

1938: "All Negro" fire company formed by Mayor Roy C. Start. Company mans the former No. 8 station at Indiana Avenue and Division Street, but is disbanded 11 months after its formation due to court battles by disgruntled whites.

1945: James B. Simmons, Jr., becomes first black member of Toledo City Council.

1949: The Unitcast Team becomes the first all-black baseball team to win the Toledo City Championship at Swayne Field.

1955: Emory Leverette is named city's first black principal, at Gunckel School.

1957: First "Negro" football queen, Janet Quinn, 17, elected over two white girls at Scott High School.

1967: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks at Scott High School, less than a year before he was assassinated.

1990: Crystal Ellis is named the first black superintendent of Toledo Public Schools.

1990: Michael Bell is appointed as the first black fire chief in the city's history. He is the first black to head a metropolitan fire department in Ohio.

2002: Jack Ford, 54, becomes Toledo's first black mayor.

First Published February 2, 2002, 1:54 p.m.