The following are short descriptions of individuals, places and events which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Captain John Perkins, nicknamed Jack Punch, was the first black commissioned officer in the Royal Navy. His date of birth and origins are unknown but Perkins first appeared in Navy records in 1775 when he joined as a ship’s pilot aboard HMS Antelope, the flagship … Read MoreJohn [aka “Jack Punch”] Perkins (?-1812)
Gondar is the former capital of the emperors of Ethiopia and remains a regional center to this day. Around 1635, Emperor Fasiladas (reign 1632-67) began construction on a castle in the Gondar Valley near the shores of Lake Tana. The fortification was ideally situated along … Read MoreGondar, Ethiopia (ca. 1635- )
In 2009 W. Mae Kent, published Titanic: The Untold Story, the first historical fiction novel on the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic which makes it’s central character, Nathan Badeau Legarde, a black man. The inspiration for her story came from Joseph Phillipe Lemercier Laroche, an … Read MoreTitanic’s Black Passenger: Creating Historical Fiction From Historical Fact
Henri Christophe was a military leader in the Haitian Revolution as well as president and later king of the young nation. Born into slavery in 1767, Christophe was brought to French colonial Haiti, known as Saint Domingue, most likely from Kitts. There he worked a … Read MoreHenri Christophe (1767-1820)
Addis Ababa was the last imperial capital of Ethiopia and serves as the capital of the modern state of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa came into existence in 1886 as a mineral springs resort for Ethiopia’s royal family and nobility. In 1892, Emperor Menilek II (r. 1889-1913) … Read MoreAddis Ababa, Ethiopia (1886- )
The Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic) would be the target of aggression from its Hispaniola neighbor, French-ruled Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), in the early nineteenth century culminating in a twenty-two year occupation which would have long term consequences for both nations. Haitian … Read MoreHaitian Invasions and Occupation of Santo Domingo (1801-1844)
Early African independence advocate Herbert Macauley was born in Lagos, Nigeria on November 14, 1864. His father was the founder and first principal of the Church Missionary Society Grammar School in Lagos, and his mother was a daughter of the Reverend Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the … Read MoreHerbert Macauley (1864-1946)
When Great Zimbabwe began its economic and military decline in the late 1400s, some of the city’s elites migrated 200 miles north to the Zambezi River and established the short-lived Shona state of Monomotapa (Mutapa). The state emerged around 1500 under Nyatsimba Mutota, the first … Read MoreMonomutapa (ca. 1450-1917)
The city of Great Zimbabwe existed in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa from the 11th century to the mid-16th century. The city grew from a community of farmers and cattle herders to a major economic center, deriving power and wealth from its proximity to resources … Read MoreGreat Zimbabwe (ca. 1000-1550 AD)
The Changamire dynasty of rulers emerged from the Shona people who had founded the state of Monomutapa around 1500. Named after its founder Changa (also known as Changamir), Changamire had been a province of Monomutapa but with the rise of civil wars and the Portuguese … Read MoreChangamire (ca. 1500-1830)
