Like the majority of black Americans living in the South in pre-Civil War America, Samuel and Amanda Chambers were slaves. Samuel, was born in 1831 in Pickens County, Alabama. Amanda was born in 1840 in Noxubee County, Mississippi. Samuel’s father was his owner, James Davidson. … Read MoreSamuel D. Chambers (1831-1929) and Amanda Chambers (1840-1925)
Powhatan Beaty was an American soldier and actor. He served in the Union Army’s 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment throughout the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration given by the United States, when … Read MorePowhatan Beaty (1837-1916)
The Pearl Incident in 1848 was the single largest recorded escape attempt by enslaved people in United States history. On April 15, 1848, 77 slaves attempted to flee Washington, D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl. They planned to sail south along … Read MoreThe Pearl Incident, 1848
Joseph T. Ball, Jr. was born Feb. 21, 1804 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His mother Mary Montgomery Drew of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was white while his father was Jamaican-born Joseph T. Ball, Sr who came to Massachusetts in 1790. The elder Ball founded a society to help … Read MoreJoseph T. Ball, Jr. (1804-1861)
Minnie M. Cox, the first black female postmaster, was born 1869 in Lexington, Mississippi, to former slaves William and Mary Geddings. After attending school in Lexington and Indianola, Mississippi, Geddings graduated from Fisk University at the age of nineteen. After graduation, she married Wayne W. … Read MoreMinnie M. Cox (1869-1933)
Pierre Caliste Landry, a former slave turned educator and minister, is noted as the first African American to be elected mayor of a town in the Unites States. Landry was born into slavery on April 19, 1841 on a sugar cane plantation in Ascension Parish, … Read MorePierre Caliste Landry (1841-1921)
When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect January 1, 1863 African American soldiers in the Union Army had been fighting the Confederacy along the South Carolina coast for nearly a year. On January 1, these soldiers assembled with their families to celebrate. Their commander, Colonel … Read MoreJanuary 1, 1863: When New Year’s Day Meant Freedom
The First Congregational Church of Atlanta, Georgia, the largest Congregational church in the South, began as a “gathered church” on May 26, 1867. After being baptized, local formerly enslaved African Americans joined members of the mostly white congregation that met at the Storrs School Chapel. … Read MoreFirst Congregational Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1867- )
“Imagr Ownership: Public Domain” Jacob C. White Sr. was a leading entrepreneur in early black Philadelphia, a tireless opponent of slavery and racial discrimination, and one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia during his lifetime. Born in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in March … Read MoreJacob Clement White Sr (1806–1872)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” According to stories handed down to his descendants, a seven year old boy from Kurdufan in what is now central Sudan, orphaned because his father was killed in a revolt against an Egyptian occupation force and his mother subsequently committed suicide, … Read MoreAugust A. Sabac el Cher (1836?–1885)
