Slaves/Freedmen
Elizabeth Key Grinstead (1630–1665)
Elizabeth Key Grinstead was one of the first women of African American ancestry in the North American colonies to sue...
Anna Maria Weems (1840-?)
Anna Maria Weems is best known as an enslaved person who gained her freedom with a daring escape from slavery. ...
Thomas Fuller (1710-1790)
Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “Slave Coast” of West Africa (present-day...
Porto-Novo, Benin (16th Century- )
Porto-Novo, meaning “New Port” in Portuguese, became the official capital of the West African country of Benin in 1960. In...
Harriet Robinson Scott (ca. 1820-1876)
Harriet Robinson Scott was an enslaved person who is best remembered for being the second wife of Dred Scott. Harriet...
Libreville, Gabon (1848- )
Libreville is the largest city and capital of Gabon, a small country on the western coast of Africa. In 2005...
Queen Nanny of the Maroons (? – 1733)
Nanny, known as Granny Nanny, Grandy Nanny, and Queen Nanny was a Maroon leader and Obeah woman in Jamaica during...
Dorcas the blackmore (ca. 1620-?)
The brief entry for “Dorcas the blackmore” that appears in the Records of the First Church at Dorchester in New...
Fredrick L. McGhee (1861-1912)
Fredrick McGhee, a founding member of the Niagara Movement, was born into slavery in Mississippi in 1861. He was freed...
