Shirley Yee, Author at

Academic Historian

Shirley J. Yee is Associate Professor of Women Studies at the University of Washington. Yee earned her Ph.D. at Ohio State University in 1987 and is the author of Black Women Abolitionists: A Study in Activism, 1828-1860 (University of Tennessee Press, 1992) and “Black Women as Community Builders,” Canadian Historical Review.

John Mercer Langston (1829-1897)

John Mercer Langston, the youngest of four children, was born a free black in Louisa County, Virginia on December 14, 1829. Langston gained distinction as an abolitionist, politician, and attorney. Despite the prominence of his slaveowner father, Ralph Quarles, Langston took his surname from his mother, … Read MoreJohn Mercer Langston (1829-1897)

Shields Green (c. 1830- 1859)

Shields Green Image Ownership: Public Domain Known as the “Emperor,” Shields Green was a fugitive slave who was executed in 1859 for his role in John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry. Shields Green was born a slave in South Carolina, with his birth year varying … Read MoreShields Green (c. 1830- 1859)

National Negro Convention Movement (1831-1864)

After more than a decade of organized abolition among northern free blacks, a group of prominent free African American men organized the National Negro Convention Movement. The convention movement among northern free blacks symbolized the growth of a black activist network by the mid-nineteenth century. … Read MoreNational Negro Convention Movement (1831-1864)

Sherrard Lewis Leary (1835-1859)

Lewis Leary was one of several Black men who were killed during John Brown’s raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal in October 1859. It was a defining moment in African American history. Born Sherrard Lewis Leary (sometimes referred to as Lewis Sheridan Leary), he was … Read MoreSherrard Lewis Leary (1835-1859)

Dangerfield F. Newby (1815-1859)

A former slave, Dangerfield Newby was one of several participants in John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in October 1859. Newby was the son of his white slave master, Henry Newby, a Scots immigrant, and his slave, Ailsey/ Elsie Pollard. … Read MoreDangerfield F. Newby (1815-1859)

Miles Mark Fisher (1899-1970)

Historian, educator and clergyman Rev. Miles Mark Fisher was pastor of the White Rock Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina from 1933 to 1965. He published a number of important scholarly works on African American culture and the Baptist missionary movement to Africa. In 1953 … Read MoreMiles Mark Fisher (1899-1970)

William J. Simmons (1849-1890)

Born into slavery in Charleston, South Carolina on June 29, 1849, William J. Simmons served as the second president of what would later become Simmons College of Kentucky between 1880 and 1890. He was also a prominent historian and biographer of African American men. Simmons’s … Read MoreWilliam J. Simmons (1849-1890)

Lott Carey (Cary) (1780-1828)

Born into slavery in Charles City County, Virginia, Lott Carey (sometimes spelled “Cary”) was one of the first African American Baptist missionaries to preach and work in Africa. Although Carey may have received Christian teachings from his father, a respected member of the Baptist church, … Read MoreLott Carey (Cary) (1780-1828)

Free African Society of Philadelphia (1787- ?)

In 1787, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, prominent black ministers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed the Free African Society (FAS) of Philadelphia, a mutual aid and religious organization. Allen and Jones envisioned the Society as the foundation of an interdenominational church for the city’s free black … Read MoreFree African Society of Philadelphia (1787- ?)

Hosea Easton (1798-1837)

Hosea Easton was a lecturer, abolitionist, writer, and Congregationalist minister. Born in Middleborough, Massachusetts in 1798 of mixed Anglo, African, Wampanoag, and Narragansett ancestry, Easton was the youngest child of James Easton and Sarah Dunbar Easton. Hosea Easton came from a long line of activists. … Read MoreHosea Easton (1798-1837)