*The Freedman’s Savings Bank opened on this date in 1865. It was the first federal bank in America. Also known as the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, it was a private savings bank chartered by the U.S. Congress to collect deposits from newly emancipated slaves. At the end of the American Civil War, the poor […]
learn more*The birth of Peter Williams Jr. is celebrated on this date in 1786. He was a Black Episcopal priest and abolitionist. Williams was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Peter Williams Sr., a Revolutionary War veteran, and his wife, Mary “Molly” Durham, an indentured servant from St. Kitts. After his family moved […]
learn more*David Lee Child was born on July 8, 1794. He was a white-American soldier, lawyer, abolitionist, and journalist. David Lee Child was born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard in 1817. Child was the submaster of the Boston Latin School, followed as secretary of the legation in Lisbon about 1820, and enlisted and […]
learn more*The first issue of the National Anti-Slavery Standard was published on June 11, 1840. The Standard was a weekly newspaper published concurrently in New York City and Philadelphia. This was the official weekly newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society; its editors were Lydia Maria Child and David Lee Child. It published essays, debates, speeches, events, […]
learn more*Ellen Murray was born on this date in 1834. She was a white-American teacher and education administrator. Murray was one of three girls born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada. Her father died when she was two years old, leaving behind enough wealth for his three daughters to receive education in Europe. Murray was fluent […]
learn more*Arthur Gregg was born on May 11, 1928. He was a Black laboratory technician and military officer. Arthur J. Gregg was born about 10 miles from Florence, South Carolina. He went to an elementary school near Florence. He attended high school in Newport News, Virginia, where he lived with his eldest brother and family. After […]
learn more*Dena Epstein was born on this date in 1916. She was a white Jewish-American music librarian, author, and musicologist. Dena Julia Polacheck was born in Milwaukee to William Polacheck and Hilda Satt. She studied music at the University of Chicago and library science at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1943. She worked as a […]
learn more*Irene Britton Smith was born on this date in 1907. She was an African and Native classical composer and educator. Irene Britton was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of four siblings. She was of African, Crow, and Cherokee descent. Smith attended Ferron Grammar School, Doolittle Grammar School, and Wendell Phillips High School. Britton attended […]
learn more*Lena McLin was born on this date in 1928. She was a Black educator, composer, author, and pastor. Lena Mae Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia. At age five, she lived with her uncle, Thomas A. Dorsey. As a child, she attended the Pilgrim Baptist Church, where she was exposed to gospel music and served […]
learn more*Hughes Van Ellis was born on this date in 1921. He was a Black Soldier, mechanic, and survivor of one of the most extensive racial holocaust episodes in America. Van Ellis was born in Holdenville, Okla., and was not yet five months old at the time of the Tulsa Massacre, after which his parents fled Tulsa with […]
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