Enslaved Workers With George Washington at his Plantation, Mount Vernon Image Ownership: Public domain Samuel “Sambo” Anderson was one of the enslaved people on George Washington’s Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon. The early history of Anderson is unclear but what is known is Anderson was from … Read MoreSamuel “Sambo” Anderson (? -1845)
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 William Henry Ellis, an African American businessman who challenged racial constructs in the United States by “passing” as Hispanic, was born a slave to Charles and Margaret Ellis on June 15, 1864. His parents had been brought by Joseph Weisiger from … Read MoreWilliam Henry Ellis (1864-1923)
Image Ownership: Public domain William Henry Hunt, African American U.S. diplomat, was born a slave in Tennessee in 1863. Hunt claimed to have been born on June 29, 1869, so he could get into school at the age of twenty-six posing as a twenty-year-old, a … Read MoreWilliam Henry Hunt (1863-1951)
The Ladies Refugee Aid Society of Kansas was founded in 1864 by black freedwomen in Lawrence. It was the first black women’s club in the West, preceding the Kansas Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (a larger amalgamation of various state women’s societies). LRAS was a … Read MoreLadies’ Refugee Aid Society (1864)
Black Descendant of Cherokee Freedman Image Ownership: Public domain In the late nineteenth century, black Indian freedmen were uniquely affected by the Indian Severalty Acts. Black freedmen had lived in the Indian Territory since before the Civil War, with many having originally come as slaves. … Read MoreIndian Severalty (The Dawes and Curtis Acts) and Black Indian Freedmen
The Robert Nero controversy refers to a late 20th Century case involving the issue of Indian identity among Cherokee Freedmen, the blacks who culturally identify with the Cherokee Nation. The controversy began with a legal class action lawsuit brought before the U.S. District Court in … Read MoreThe Robert Nero Controversy (1983- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Francisca da Silva de Oliveira, better known as Chica da Silva (or spelled Xica da Silva), was a Brazilian woman born into slavery, who went on to gain her freedom and become a powerful and well-known member of Brazilian society. Silva … Read MoreChica da Silva (1731/5-1796)
The Demerara Rebellion of 1823 was an uprising involving more than ten thousand enslaved people in the Crown colony of Demerara-Essequibo (now part of Guyana) on the coast of South America. The rebellion took place on August 18, 1823, and lasted two days. No particular … Read MoreDemerara Rebellion of 1823
Image Ownership: Public domain Mohammed Ali “Nicholas” Said, an enslaved African from Bornu in what is now northeastern Nigeria, traveled through Europe to the United States. He was born in Kouka, Bornu, the thirteenth of nineteen children to Barca Gana and his wife, Dalia, in … Read MoreMohammed Ali “Nicholas” Said (1836-1882)