Lou Southworth Image Ownership: Public Domain Lou Southworth, who became noted as a rare former Oregon slave, was born in Tennessee around 1830. His father’s name was Hunter, but he was born into slavery and took the surname of his master, James Southworth. His early … Read MoreLou Southworth (ca. 1830-1917)
Benjamin Bradley was the first person to develop a working model of a steam engine for a war ship. Born in Maryland around 1830 Bradley was owned by an unidentified slaveholder in Annapolis, Maryland. While living in Annapolis Bradley worked for a printing company at … Read MoreBenjamin Bradley (1830-?)
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was created by Congress on March 3, 1865. Fashioned to provide temporary, one-year assistance to former slaves and destitute whites in the war-ravaged South, in July of the following year … Read MoreFreedmen’s Bureau (1865-1872)
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 Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company, commonly referred to as The Freedmen’s Bank, was incorporated on March 3, 1865. It was created by the United States Congress along with the Freedmen’s Bureau to aid the freedmen in their transition from slavery to freedom. By late … Read MoreFreedmen’s Savings and Trust Company (1865-1874)
Horace King, born a slave on September 8, 1807, in Chesterfield District, South Carolina, was a successful bridge architect and builder in west Georgia, northern Alabama and northeast Georgia from the 1830s to the 1870s. King worked for his master, John Godwin who owned a … Read MoreHorace King (1807-1885)
John Mitchell, Jr. edited and published the Richmond Planet newspaper from one year after its founding in 1883, until his death in 1929. He was known as the “fighting editor” for his writing against racism. In 1863, John Mitchell, Sr. and his wife Rebecca were … Read MoreJohn Mitchell Jr. (1863–1929) and the Richmond Planet (1883 -1996)
On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln went into effect. The Proclamation, written the previous September, declared free all enslaved people in the Confederate States (or portions of those states) who resided in territory still in rebellion against the United States. From that … Read More(1863) The Emancipation Proclamation
Slavery in New Mexico Territory was never focused on black bondage as in the Southern states. New Mexico Territory never had more than a dozen or so black slaves because it had other forms sources of coerced labor, both Native American indentured servants and slaves, … Read MoreThe New Mexico Territory Slave Code (1859-1862)
In the following article, University of California at Los Angeles historian Gary B. Nash describes little-known Revolutionary War soldier who was attached by General George Washington to serve with Polish military engineer Tadeuz Kosciuszko. This account is part of a larger history of three individuals, … Read MoreAgrippa Hull: Revolutionary Patriot
