Sierra Leone’s founding dates back to 1787 when several waves of freed black settlers originating from England, Nova Scotia, and Jamaica all arrived in the area. Utilizing some English government funding, The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, an abolitionist group which included … Read MoreFounding of Sierra Leone, 1787
Abraham Doras Shadd, the first Afro-Canadian to hold public office, was born in free Wilmington, Delaware on March 2, 1801, to parents Jeremiah Schad and Amelia Siscoe. Shadd earned a respectable living as a shoemaker, supporting his wife and thirteen children. His passion, however, was … Read MoreAbraham Doras Shadd (1801-1882)
David Jones Peck was the first black man to graduate from an American medical school. He was born to John C. and Sarah Peck in Carlisle, Pennsylvania around 1826. John Peck was a prominent abolitionist and minister who founded the local African Methodist Episcopal (AME) … Read MoreDavid Jones Peck (ca. 1826-1855)
Thomas L. Jennings was the first black man to receive a patent. The patent was awarded on March 3, 1821 (US Patent 3306x) for his discovery of a process called dry-scouring which was the forerunner of today’s modern dry-cleaning. Jennings was born free in New … Read MoreThomas L. Jennings (1791- 1856)
The American Colonization Society (ACS), also known as the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color in the United States, emerged in 1816 as a national organization dedicated to promoting the manumission of the enslaved and the settlement of free blacks in West … Read MoreAmerican Colonization Society (1816-1964)
The African Civilization Society (ACS) was founded in 1858 by Henry Highland Garnet who sought to encourage blacks Americans to emigrate to Africa. Garnet envisioned educated black Americans moving to the African Continent as cultural missionaries to lead the economic, political, and moral development of … Read MoreThe African Civilization Society (1858-1869)
Born on February 24, 1811 to free Black parents London and Martha Payne in Charleston, South Carolina, Daniel Alexander Payne would become a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, president of Wilberforce University, abolitionist, educator, and historian. When Payne was four his father … Read MoreDaniel Alexander Payne (1811-1893)
Charles Bennett Ray journalist, clergyman, and abolitionist was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts on December 25, 1807. He attended school in his hometown, and then in the 1830s he was given the opportunity by abolitionists to attend Wesleyan Seminary in Wilbraham, Massachusetts to study theology. He … Read MoreCharles B. Ray (1807-1886)
James Varick was the founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Varick was born to a slave mother near Newburgh, New York. His father was Richard Varick, a free black man who was originally from Hackensack, New Jersey. Varick grew up … Read MoreJames Varick (1750-1827)
Peter Williams Jr., clergyman, abolitionist, and opponent of colonization was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey around 1780. His family moved to New York City, where he first attended the New York African Free School operated by the Manumission Society. He was also taught privately … Read MorePeter Williams Jr. (1780-1840)
