William Lewis Eagleson (1835-1899)

William Lewis Eagleson published the Colored Citizen, the first black-owned newspaper in Kansas. He was born a slave August 9, 1835 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Colored Citizen originated at Fort Scott, Kansas, January 1878. Eagleson moved the paper to Topeka, Kansas in July1878 because … Read MoreWilliam Lewis Eagleson (1835-1899)

The Harlem Renaissance in the American West

In the following article historians Bruce Glasrud and Cary Wintz discuss their new book, The Harlem Renaissance in the American West which argues that the literary and artistic outpouring by African Americans during the third decade of the 20th Century was a national phenomenon which … Read MoreThe Harlem Renaissance in the American West

Slavery and Freedom on the Minnesota Territory Frontier: The Strange Saga of Joseph Godfrey

New York historian Walt Bachman introduces Northern Slave, Black Dakota, his new biography of Joseph Godfrey, an African American who was born into slavery in the free territory that became Minnesota, fled from abusive masters to seek refuge among the Dakota Indians, and was a … Read MoreSlavery and Freedom on the Minnesota Territory Frontier: The Strange Saga of Joseph Godfrey

Slavery in Oregon: The Reuben Shipley Saga

Few Americans realize that the institution of slavery reached the Pacific Northwest in the two decades before the Civil War.  A small number of the white settlers who followed the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City brought bondservants.  Oregon historian R. Gregory Nokes, … Read MoreSlavery in Oregon: The Reuben Shipley Saga