Henry McKee Minton was an African American pharmacist and physician who was one of the six men who founded the first African American fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi, commonly known as The Boulé. The other five founders were Algernon Jackson, Edwin Howard, Richard Warrick, Robert Abele, … Read MoreHenry McKee Minton (1870-1946)
Most Americans are now familiar with the contribution of nearly 300,000 black soldiers and sailors to the Union cause during the U.S. Civil War. Less well known is the role of a dedicated group of black doctors and nurses in uniform who worked diligently to … Read MoreAfrican Americans in Medicine in the Civil War Era
Cecil Francis Poole, the first African American U.S. Attorney in the continental United States and the first African American federal judge in Northern California, was born in Birmingham, Alabama on July 14, 1914, to William and Eva Poole. In 1918, the Poole family moved to … Read MoreCecil F. Poole (1914-1997)
Author Harriet E. Wilson is believed to be the first African American woman to publish a novel in the United States. Her fictional autobiography Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-story White House, North. Showing that Slavery’s Shadows … Read MoreHarriet E. Adams Wilson (ca. 1828-?)
At the time of her death in 1846, Dinah Whipple was the revered teacher of African American children in Portsmouth, New Hampshire but she was identified more prominently, at least according to the local white newspaper editor, as the widow of Prince Whipple. Prince had … Read MoreDinah Whipple (ca. 1760-1846)
James Monroe Whitfield, a black abolitionist and colonizationist, was born on April 10, 1822 in New Hampshire. Little is known about his early life except that he was a descendant of Ann Paul, the sister of prominent black clergyman Thomas Paul. Whitfield had little formal … Read MoreJames Monroe Whitfield (1822-1871)
Thomas Paul was the eldest of six sons born into a free Black family in Exeter, New Hampshire. Educated at a Baptist school in Hollis, New Hampshire, Paul pursued a career in the ministry as did three of his brothers. He enjoyed a reputation as … Read MoreThomas Paul, Sr. (1773-1831)
James D. Lynch, a Reconstruction era politician, is best known for his position as Secretary of the State of Mississippi from 1869 to 1872. Lynch was the first African American to hold a major political office in that state. Born in 1838 in Baltimore, Maryland, … Read MoreJames D. Lynch (1838-1872)
John Ralph Lyons was born February 22, 1888 in Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania to James Levi and Harriet (Baptist) Lyons. His father was a barber and musician. He had four brothers and two sisters, and his mother died in childbirth when he was a teenager. … Read MoreJohn Ralph Lyons (1888-1941)
From the late seventeenth century onwards, a few American colonists, mostly Quakers, had expressed their moral opposition to the spread of black slavery throughout British America. It was not until the coming of the Revolution, however, that the first concerted protests arose, first against the … Read MoreFirst Emancipation
