People, Locations, Episodes

Charles Russell, Editor born

*Charles Russell was born on this date in 1860. He was a white-American journalist, opinion columnist, newspaper editor, and political activist. Charles Edward Russell was born in Davenport, Iowa, a transportation center on the Mississippi River on the state’s far eastern border. His father, Edward Russell, was editor of the Davenport Gazette and an abolitionist. The Russell family was […]

Henrietta Davis, Actress, and Nurse Administrator born

On this date in 1860 we remember Henrietta Vinton Davis. She was an African American actress and an international leader of the Garvey movement.

Carrie Fortune, Clubwoman and Activist born.

*Carrie Fortune’s birth is celebrated on December 2, 1860. She was a Black clubwoman, seamstress, and community activist. Born in Florida, Caroline Charlotte “Carrie” Smiley Fortune was the daughter of white plantation owner John Smiley and his mistress, an Indigenous Seminole woman. At about 16, Carrie Smiley accepted the offer to relocate to Sag Harbor […]

Coralie Franklin Cook, Activist born

*Coralie Franklin Cook was born on this date in 1861. She was a Black activist, suffragist, orator, and scholar.  Descended from slaves owned by President Thomas Jefferson, Coralie Franklin was born in Lexington, Virginia, the younger of two daughters from Albert Barbour Franklin and Mary Elizabeth Edmondson. Her parents were enslaved by Southern First Families […]

Florida Ruffin Ridley, Activist, Suffragist, and Teacher born

*Florida Ruffin Ridley was born on this date in 1861. She was a Black activist, suffragist, teacher, writer, and editor. Florida Yates Ruffin was born into a distinguished Boston family. Her father, George Lewis Ruffin, was the first Black graduate of Harvard Law School and the first Black judge in the United States. Her mother, Josephine St. […]

Nettie Langston Napier, Activist born

*Nettie Langston Napier was born on this date 1861. She was an African American woman’s activist and administrator.

Butler R. Wilson, Lawyer and Activist born

*Butler Wilson was born on this date in 1861. He was a Black attorney, activist, and humanitarian. Butler Roland Wilson was born in Greensboro, Georgia, to Dr. John R. and Mary Jackson Wilson, free people of color. His father was a physician and civic leader in the Atlanta area. Wilson attended Clark/Atlanta University, where he was […]

J. B. Stradford, Businessman born

*J.B. Stradford was born on this date in 1861.  He was a Black businessman and community activist.  John the Baptist (J.B.) Stradford was from Versailles, KY, the son of Julius Caesar (J.C.).  His father was enslaved, and his owner never gave him the last name, though his owner’s daughter befriended him and taught him to […]

The Port Royal Experiment Begins

*The Port Royal Experiment began on this date in 1861. This educational program involved former slaves successfully working on the land abandoned by white-American planters.    It started during the American Civil War after the Union captured the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and their main harbor, Port Royal. The whites fled, leaving behind 10,000 Black slaves. Several private Northern charity organizations stepped in to help […]

Lydia Flood Jackson, Businesswoman born

*Lydia Flood Jackson was born on this date in 1862. She was a Black businesswoman, suffragist, and clubwoman.   Lydia Flood was born in Brooklyn, California, which is now part of Oakland, California. Her mother was Elizabeth Thorn Scott, and her father was Isaac Flood. Her mother was educated in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She moved […]

Ida B. Wells, Journalist, and Anti-Lynching Advocate born

On this date in 1862, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born. She was an African American journalist, advocate of civil rights, women’s rights, economic rights, and an anti-lynching crusader.

Ida Gibbs Hunt, Global Racial and Gender Activist born

*Ida Gibbs Hunt was born on this date in 1862.  She was a Black administrator and international racial and gender equality activist. Ida Alexander Gibbs was born in Victoria, British Columbia. Ida’s father, Judge Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, was one of the wealthiest African Americans in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Before he acquired […]

William H. Baldwin Jr. Philanthropist born

William Henry Baldwin Jr. was born on this date in 1863. He was a white-American corporate executive and philanthropist    He was the son of William Henry Baldwin, a dry goods merchant, and Mary Chaffee. A descendant of an English settler who had arrived in Massachusetts before 1640, Baldwin grew up in a family noted for its […]

Homer Plessy, Activist born

*Homer Plessy, an African American businessman and civil rights activist, was born on this date in 1863.

Jesse Moorland, Minister, and Civic Leader born

On this date in 1863, Jesse Moorland was born. He was a Black minister, community executive, and civic leader.

Jesse Edward Moorland came from Coldwater, Ohio, the only child of a farming family. When he was an infant, his mother died and his father left him to be raised by his maternal grandparents.