Elizabeth Jennings Graham, activist and educator, was born free in New York City to Thomas and Elizabeth Jennings in either 1826 (according to her Death Certificate) or 1830 (according to an 1850 census). The specific day and month of her birth are unknown. Her parents were both prominent members of New York City’s small Black middle class, and her father was the first African American to hold a patent in the United States. He was also involved in many social and religious organizations and was one of the founders of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. Like her father, Elizabeth Jennings Graham was involved in many social and religious organizations, most prominently as a church organist. She was on her way to church to play the organ on July 16, 1854, when she tried to board a streetcar of the Third Avenue Railway Company, which at the time did not allow African Americans as passengers. At first, she was permitted to ride the streetcar as long as none of the other passengers complained, but she was forcibly evicted as soon as the conductor found a policeman to help him throw her off the conveyance. Graham’s forcible removal from the streetcar because … Continue reading Elizabeth Jennings Graham (?-1905)