People, Locations, Episodes

Jacques Francis, Slave Diver, and Trial Witness born

*This date in 1527 is celebrated as the birth date of Jacques Francis, A Black British slave salvage diver. Francis was from Arguin Island, Mauritania. However, records at the time described him as a “Guinea diver” and exceptionally talented. He had been working for Piero Corsi on a 1546 salvage attempt of the Mary Rose, […]

Zumbi, Afro Brazilian Abolitionist born

The life of Zumbi in 1655 is celebrated on this date. He was an Afro Brazilian abolitionist and soldier.

Crispus Attucks, American Patriot born

On this date in 1723, we celebrate the birth of Crispus Attucks. He was a Black merchant and patriot.

Little is known about the early years of Attucks. He was born a slave around in the (then) colony of Massachusetts. His father, Prince Yonger, was African and his mother, Nancy Attucks, was an Indian and possible descendant of John Attucks, a member of the Natick Indian tribe. John Attucks was executed for treason in 1676 during the King Philip War. The word “attuck” in the Natick language means deer.

The St. John’s Slave Rebellion Occurs

On this date in 1733, one of the first successful African slave rebellions took place.

Enslaved Africans on the island of St. John (today a part of the United States Virgin Islands) defeated the Danish army, taking over the island and flying their own flag.

The insurrection, the first successful one in the New World, lasted six months; the Africans finally were defeated by troops sent by other European colonies in the region as reinforcements for the defeated Danish troops.

Jonathan Strong, Slave and Plaintiff born.

*The birth of Jonathan Strong is celebrated on this date in c. 1747. He was a Black slave and plaintiff in one of the earliest legal cases relating to slavery in Britain and the British abolitionist movement. It is unknown where Strong was born, but he was brought to Britain from the British colony of Barbados […]

The New York Manumission Society is formed.

*The first meeting of the New York Manumission Society was held on this date in 1785. Their full name was ‘The New York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves, and Protecting Such of Them as Have Been, or May be Liberated.’ John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Noah Webster, and many slaveholders were among its founders. […]

Sarah Moore Grimke, Abolitionist born

Sarah Moore Grimke was born on this date in 1792. She was a White American abolitionist and advocate of women’s rights.

From Charleston, S.C., she came from a distinguished Southern family. On a visit to Philadelphia, Grimke joined the Society of Friends. She converted her younger sister Angelina to the Quaker faith, and the two moved to the North permanently in January 1832. Angelina became an abolitionist in 1835, and in turn converted Sarah.

Hezekiah Grice, Abolitionist born

*This date, 1801, is celebrated as the birth date of Hezekiah Grice, a Black abolitionist, machinist, and businessman. Grice was born in rural Calvert County, Maryland. Despite Maryland’s status as a slave state, Grice received some formal education and became a machinist. Grice migrated to Baltimore, where he became a mathematician and inventor through formal […]

Stephen S. Foster, Abolitionist born

*Stephen Foster was born on this date in 1809.  He was a white-American abolitionist.   Stephen Symonds Foster was born in Canterbury, New Hampshire. His parents, Sarah and Asa Foster, had twelve children; Stephen was the ninth. The family attended the local Congregational church and participated in Canterbury’s anti-slavery society.   Foster apprenticed to a carpenter but left at age 22 to […]

Fanny Kemble, Actress, and Abolitionist Writer born

Frances “Fanny” Kemble was born on this date in 1809. She was a White British actress, author, and abolitionist.

Frances Anne Kemble was a member of the famous Kemble theatrical family, and the oldest daughter of actor Charles Kemble and his actress wife Maria Theresa De Camp, and the niece of noted tragedienne Sarah Siddons. Fanny was born in London, and educated chiefly in France.

Wendell Phillips, Abolitionist born

*Wendell Phillips was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American businessman and abolitionist.

Samuel Burris, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Samuel Burris in 1813 is remembered on this date. He was a black abolitionist and member of the Underground Railroad.

Jane Swisshelm, News Publisher and Abolitionist born.

Jane Cannon Swisshelm was born in on this date in 1815. She was a White American educator, publisher, and abolitionist.

She was born in Pittsburgh, PA.,and when she was eight, her father died. She helped her mother support the family by lace making and, at the age of 14, as a schoolteacher. In 1836, she married James Swisshelm and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. It was here that she became involved in the campaign against slavery and became a member of the Underground Railroad. In 1848, Swisshelm established her own anti-slavery newspaper, the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter.

Sarah Jane Early, Educator born

On this date in 1825, Sarah Jane Early was born. She was a Black teacher, abolitionist, and feminist.

Nat Turner is Hanged

On this date in 1831, Nat Turner was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia. Turner, a slave and educated minister, believed that he was chosen by God to lead his people out of slavery. On August 21, 1831, he initiated his slave uprising by slaughtering Joseph Travis, his slave owner, and Travis’ family.

With seven followers, he set off across the countryside, hoping to rally hundreds of slaves to join his insurrection. Turner’s rebellion was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history and led to a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the movement, assembly, and education of slaves.