People, Locations, Episodes

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.

Henry Garnet, Abolitionist born

On this date in 1815, Henry H. Garnet was born. He was a Black theologian and abolitionist.

Henry Wagoner, Abolitionist born

*Henry Wagoner was born on this date in 1816. He was a Black abolitionist and civil rights activist. Henry O. Wagoner was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. As a child, Wagoner was taught to read by his paternal grandmother but was rarely able to attend school, achieving less than a year’s schooling while working on a farm. Starting […]

John G. Fee Jr., Abolitionist, and Minister born

*John G. Fee Jr. was born on this date in 1816. He was a white-American abolitionist, minister, and educator. John Gregg Fee Jr. was born in Bracken County, Kentucky, and was the son of John Fee and Elizabeth Bradford, whose mother was a Quaker from Pennsylvania. His father inherited a bondsman who reached the term of […]

Frederick Douglass, Humanitarian born

*Frederick Douglass was born on this date in 1817. He was a Black abolitionist, orator, and writer who escaped slavery and urged other Blacks to do likewise before and during the American Civil War.

William Lambert, Abolitionist born

*The birth of William Lambert is celebrated on this date in 1817.  He was a Black abolitionist and businessman.   William Lambert was born free in Trenton, New Jersey.  At least one of his parents was free at his birth.  Crucial to his later success, Lambert was taken under the wing of a Quaker schoolmaster. […]

Henrietta Duterte, Abolitionist born.

*This date in 1817 is celebrated as the birth date of Henrietta Duterte. She was a Black funeral homeowner, philanthropist, and abolitionist. Henrietta Bowers was born to an affluent, free Black family and raised on Middle Alley, now called Panama Street, in Philadelphia’s Society Hill. Known for her fashionable attire, she began her career as […]

Charles Langston, Editor, and Teacher born

*The birth of Charles Langston in 1817 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black slave, editor, abolitionist and teacher.

Samuel R. Ward, Minister, and Abolitionist born

Rev. Samuel Ringgold Ward was born on this date in 1817. He was a Black abolitionist and minister.

Born a slave on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, he escaped with his parents in 1820. His father was descended from an African prince. He learned to read so that he could enjoy the priceless privilege of searching the Scriptures and supporting himself as a house painter. His mother was widowed in a previous marriage and bore three children, all boys; Samuel was the second. Ward grew up in New York, and was placed in a public school in Mulberry Street.

Elizabeth Keckley, Author, and Abolitionist born

On this date we remember the birth of Elizabeth Keckley in 1818. She was a Black domestic, author, and abolitionist.

Lucy Stone, Suffragist, and Abolitionist born

*Lucy Stone was born on this date in 1818. She was a White American reformer, who was a pioneer in the abolitionist movement and women’s rights movement.

Lucy Goode Brooks, Child Advocate born

*Lucy Goode Brooks was born on this date in 1818. She was a Black slave and children’s advocate. Lucy Goode was born in Virginia to Judith Goode, a slave and a white man. She met another slave, Albert Royal Brooks, and taught him to read and write to write passes to see each other. When […]

Elijah Gammon, Minister, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Elijah H. Gammon in 1819 is celebrated on this date. He was an White American minister, businessman and abolitionist.

George T. Downing, Abolitionist born

*George T. Downing was born on this date in 1819.  He was a Black abolitionist and businessman.   George Thomas Downing was born in New York City to Thomas Downing and Rebecca (West). His father, Thomas, was born in Chincoteague, Virginia, to parents freed from slavery when their master, John Downing, a prominent planter, converted to Methodism. The couple […]

Harriet Tubman, Abolitionist, and Naturalist born

*On this date we remember the birth of Harriet Ross Tubman in 1820. She was a Black abolitionist who escaped from slavery and returned to the South repeatedly to lead other African slaves to freedom.