Devin Engledew, Author at

Independent Historian

Devin John Engledew is an undergraduate history student at the University of Washington. Having been born and raised in Seattle,Washington’s historic central district, Devin has an invested interest in the social history of the American West with a specific concentration in historic Seattle. Similarly, Devin also is interested in the subjects surrounding American history in the 19th and 20th century. Devin is expecting to graduate from the University of Washington with a B.A. in history in June of 2008 with ambitions to one day earning a professional degree in the subject and is interested in pursuing a career working in education.

Perry Wilbon Howard (1877-1961)

Perry Wilbon Howard was one of the shrewdest and most enduring Southern black politicians of the early 20th Century. Howard was a dominant figure in Mississippi Republican politics for half of the twentieth century. For thirty-five years between 1924 until shortly before his death in … Read MorePerry Wilbon Howard (1877-1961)

Jermain Wesley Loguen (1813-1872)

Image Ownership: Public Domain Jermain Wesley Loguen was born into slavery on February 5, 1813, in Tennessee. His mother was owned by Loguen’s father and master. In 1834, Loguen escaped from bondage and fled to St. Catherine’s, Ontario, where he stayed there briefly before finding … Read MoreJermain Wesley Loguen (1813-1872)

Bishop Alexander Walters (1858-1917)

Alexander Walters was born in 1858 into a slave family in Bardstown, Kentucky, the sixth of eight children. By the age of ten, Walters had shown such academic progress that he was awarded by the African Episcopal Zion Church a full scholarship to attend private … Read MoreBishop Alexander Walters (1858-1917)

Robert Purvis (1810-1898)

Robert Purvis was born on August 4, 1810 in Charleston, South Carolina, the second of three sons to a wealthy cotton broker and a free woman of color. With the benefits of a financially successful family, Purvis began his opposition to slavery at a very … Read MoreRobert Purvis (1810-1898)

William Still (1821-1902)

William Still was born in Burlington County, New Jersey in 1821, as the last of eighteen children of former slaves Levin and Charity Still. By 1844, Still moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he spent the majority of his life and where he was appointed secretary … Read MoreWilliam Still (1821-1902)

Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932)

Charles Waddell Chesnutt was born the son of free black parents on June 20, 1858 in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents had recently moved to Cleveland from Fayetteville, North Carolina in response to the growing restrictions placed on free blacks in that slave state. By 1866, … Read MoreCharles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932)

William Wells Brown (ca. 1814-1884)

William Wells Brown was an African American antislavery lecturer, groundbreaking novelist, playwright, and historian. He is widely considered to have been the first African American to publish works in several major literary genres. Known for his continuous political activism especially in his involvement with the … Read MoreWilliam Wells Brown (ca. 1814-1884)

William Calvin Chase (1854-1921)

William Chase was born in 1854 to a free black family in Washington, D.C. Chase was raised in integrated neighborhoods and attended local area schools including Howard University Law School. Chase combined the practice of law with journalism for most of his career and was … Read MoreWilliam Calvin Chase (1854-1921)