People, Locations, Episodes

Robert Reed Church Sr., Businessman born

*Robert Reed Church, Sr., was born on this date in 1839. He was a Black business leader and philanthropist. 

Nathan Toomer, Freedmen born

*On this date in 1839, we celebrate the birth of Nathan Toomer. He was a Black freedman and farmer. Nathan Toomer was born into slavery in Chatham County, North Carolina, and sold to Col. Henry Toomer. Before and after the American Civil War, Nathan worked for Henry Toomer as a personal valet and assistant, learning the ways […]

The National Anti-Slavery Standard is published

*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, […]

A Black Man Receives a Feather Renovator Patent

 *On this date in 1840, a Black man received a patent for a machine for cleaning and drying feathers. Robert Benjamin Lewis received patent #1,655. “Machine for Cleaning and Drying Feathers” is described as the “arrangement and combination of feathers by steam and steam heat” and could be used for “dressing over old feathers or preparing […]

Felix Battles, Soldier, and Barber born

*The birth of Felix Battles is celebrated on this date in 1840. He was a Black soldier and barber. Born enslaved on a cotton plantation near Memphis, TN, Battles spent his childhood near Holly Springs, MS. Between 1856 and 1860, he escaped his enslavers. He is in the 1860 census in Dubuque, Iowa, with three […]

Lewis Henry Douglass, Administrator born

9*Lewis Henry Douglass was born on this date in 1840. He was a Black typesetter, soldier, teacher, and administrator. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was the oldest son of Frederick Douglass and his first wife, Anna Murray Douglass. He was well educated and, as a boy, apprenticed in Rochester, New York, as a typesetter for […]

John Henry Murphy Sr., Journalist born

This date marks the birthday of John Henry Murphy Sr. He was a Black journalist, businessman and founder of the Black newspaper the Baltimore Afro-American.

John Henry Murphy, Sr., was born a slave on Christmas day 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. He served as a sergeant in the infantry during the Civil War. After the war he worked as a white-washer and home decorator. Murphy founded the Afro-American newspaper in 1892, originally designed to serve a local church community.

Henry Morton Stanley, Colonial Administrator born

*Sir Henry Morton Stanley was born on this date in 1841. He was a white-European (Welsh) journalist, explorer, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician.  Born as John Rowlands in Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales. His mother, Elizabeth Parry, was 18 years old at his birth. She abandoned him as a very young baby and cut off all communication. Stanley never knew his father, […]

Emma Chappell, Banker, and Economist born

 *The birth of Emma Chappell is marked on this date in 1941. She was a Black economist, sociopolitical activist, and bank administrator.    Born in Philadelphia, at sixteen, she first became interested in banking when her pastor noted her mathematical abilities and encouraged her to pursue a career in banking. In 1959, she started as a […]

A Black Man Receives a Whitewash Brush Patent

 *On this date in 1841, a Black man received a patent for an improved brush for whitewashing. Robert Benjamin Lewis received #1992. “The object of my improvements is to remedy these defects effectually and to provide, as it were, a framework in which new bristles may be inserted at a trifling expense after the old ones […]

Beale Street (Memphis, TN), a story

*On this date in 1841, Beale Street is celebrated. Beale Street is a historic street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, approximately 1.8 miles. Beale Street was created by entrepreneur and developer Robertson Topp, who named it for a forgotten military hero. (The original name was Beale Avenue.) […]

George Ruby, Politician, and Teacher born

*The birth of George Ruby is celebrated on this date in 1841. He was a Black teacher, journalist, and politician. George Thompson Ruby was born in New York City. His parents were the Rev. Ebenezer Ruby and Jemima Ruby, though their son would claim that his father was an aristocratic white man. He was mulatto. Ruby […]

Frederick Douglass Jr., Abolitionist, and Editor born

*Frederick Douglass Jr. was born on this date in 1842. He was an abolitionist, essayist, newspaper editor, and official recruiter of colored soldiers for the United States Union Army during the American Civil War. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was the second son of Frederick Douglass and his first wife, Anna Murray Douglass. As a youngster […]

William Monroe Trotter, Publisher, and Activist born

*William Monroe Trotter was born on this date in 1872. He was an African American news publisher and activist and perhaps the most militant of the known civil rights activist of the 19th century.

Allen Allensworth, Municipal Administrator born

*On this date in 1842, Allen Allensworth was born. He was a Black minister, administrator and educator.

From Louisville, KY, born to slave parents, Phyllis and Levi Allensworth, Allen escaped from slavery at the age of twenty. During the Civil War, he became a civilian nurse in the 44th Infantry’s hospital corps serving in the Nashville campaign. A year later he joined the Navy serving on gunboat in the Ohio River. By 1865, he became a chief petty officer. Allensworth then returned to Louisville, where he converted to the Baptist faith in their Fifth Street Church.