Charlotte L. Brown is best known as a civil rights activist in San Francisco, California in the 1860s. Brown was the daughter of James E. and Charlotte Brown and sister to Margaret Ann. James Brown was also a well regarded civil rights activist in Gold Rush Era … Read MoreCharlotte L. Brown (?-?)
Located in southwest Washington, the town of Centralia was founded by George Washington, an African American who came west in 1850 to escape discrimination. Washington first settled in Oregon Territory, but was barred from owning land there, so he moved north and eventually obtained a … Read MoreCentralia, Washington (1875– )
Despite its charm, Hawaii was a peculiar setting for a young black woman from Brooklyn, New York in the late nineteenth century. The third child of T. McCants Stewart and Charlotte Pearl Harris, Carlotta Stewart was born in 1881 in Brooklyn, New York, where she … Read MoreCarlotta Stewart Lai (1881-1952)
Early in 1890, in Spokane, Washington, a small group of African American citizens gathered “to consider the propriety of organizing a church.” The name Calvary Baptist Church was adopted, and thus was founded the city’s first historically black church. Its founding transcended race and gender, … Read MoreCalvary Baptist Church, Spokane, Washington (1890- )
Bose Ikard was born a slave in Summerville, Mississippi, in June 1847 according to the best available evidence. It is likely that his slave master, Dr. Milton Ikard, was his father and his mother was a slave named “King.” The Ikard family, slave and free, … Read MoreBose Ikard (1847-1929)
Bill Pickett, “the Dusky Demon,” was of Indian/Black descent, Texas-born and seemingly destined for the saddle. At birth, he was just another cowboy. By the time of his death, Pickett was the most famous black cowboy entertainer in American history. The slightly-built man transformed himself … Read MoreBill Pickett (1870-1932)
Born in 1822 to a Virginia slave and a white plantation owner, Barney L. Ford grew up in South Carolina where he learned to read and write from another servant. Ford escaped slavery at age twenty-six when his master hired him out to work on … Read MoreBarney L. Ford (1822-1902)
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, the first African American Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, was organized in January 1866 by formerly enslaved people. These individuals were assisted by white missionaries from the First Baptist Church and the German Baptist Church. Antioch’s members worshiped at the two … Read MoreAntioch Missionary Baptist Church, Houston, Texas (1866- )
William C. Nell was an African American civic activist, abolitionist, and historian. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Nell was the son of William Guion Nell, a prominent tailor and black activist. William C. Nell was introduced to racial inequality and black activism from birth. … Read MoreWilliam C. Nell (1816-1874)
In 1866 the Fisk Free Colored School was established in Nashville, Tennessee by the American Missionary Association. Housed in abandoned Union hospital barracks, Fisk set out to educate former slaves with the support of donations from former abolitionists. As those donations declined over the next … Read MoreFisk Jubilee Singers
