Robert Morris became one of the first black lawyers in United States after being admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1847. Morris was born in Salem, Massachusetts on June 8, 1823. At an early age, Morris had some formal education at Master Dodge’s School in Salem. With the agreement … Read MoreRobert Morris, Sr (1823–1882)
Image Ownership: Public domain French naval hero Camille Mortenol was born November 29, 1859 in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city in the French island colony of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea, the son of former slave André Mortenol, a sailor, and his wife, Julienne Toussaint, a … Read MoreCamille Sosthène Héliodore Mortenol (1859-1930)
The Amistad Mutiny Trial in Connecticut, 1840 Image Ownership: Public domain The Amistad Mutiny occurred on the Spanish schooner La Amistad on July 2, 1839. The incident began In February 1839 when Portuguese slave hunters illegally seized 53 Africans in Sierra Leone, a British colony, … Read MoreThe Amistad Mutiny, 1839
Image Ownership: Public domain Willis Augustus Hodges was born into a free black family on February 12, 1815, in Blackwater, Princess Anne County, Virginia. Both his parents were free, as well as his grandmother. His grandfather was enslaved as were his parents, but since Hodges’ parents … Read MoreWillis Augustus Hodges (1815-1890)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Maritcha Remond Lyons, an African-American teacher and civil rights activist, was born in New York City, New York to Albro Lyons Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyon on May 23, 1848. She was the third of five children in the free black … Read MoreMaritcha Lyons (1848–1929)
Gobo Fango was born in the Eastern Cape Colony in what is now South Africa around 1855, just before the beginning of the eighth of the nine Xhosa Wars (Cape Frontier Wars) against British and Boer settlers. Fango was a member of the Gcaleka tribe, … Read MoreGobo Fango (1855-1886)
Quack Walker Lewis, black abolitionist, barber, AND elder (priest) in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born in Barre, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on August 3, 1798. His father, Peter P. Lewis, was a free black yeoman farmer in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and … Read MoreQ. Walker Lewis (1798–1856)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Anne Maria Weems is best known as an enslaved person who gained her freedom with a daring escape from slavery. Weems was born into slavery about 1840 in Maryland to John and Arabella Talbot Weems. Her father was a free man … Read MoreAnna Maria Weems (1840-?)
Colonel Charles Fox Leading the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment into Charleston, S.C. when the City Surrenders to Union Forces on February 21, 1865 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" The 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was a volunteer regiment made up of men who wanted to enter the … Read More55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (1863-1865)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Jean-Baptiste Belley-Mars, who represented Saint-Domingue in the French National Convention in Paris in 1794, is widely credited with persuading that body to abolish slavery in France and its overseas colonies. Belley-Mars as a boy was kidnapped by slave catchers on the … Read MoreJean-Baptiste Belley-Mars (1747?–1805?)