People, Locations, Episodes

Harry Shepherd, Photographer born

*Harry Shepherd’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1856. He was a Black photographer and activist. From Salem, VA, he came to Minnesota in 1880. 1887 Shepherd established his photo studio in St. Paul, Minnesota, with eight working attendants. Business was good enough that by 1888, he opened two more studios, “Peoples Gallery” and […]

Mary Graham, Teacher born

*Mary Graham’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1857. She was a Black Teacher and journalist.   Mary Henrietta Graham was born in Windsor, Ontario, to a white Englishwoman mother (Sarah) and a Black father (Levi) from Illinois. She was the second oldest of at least four children and was nicknamed “Mollie.”  At some […]

The ‘Mirror Of The Times’ Newspaper is Published

*The Mirror of the Times newspaper is celebrated on this date in 1857. This was a Black newspaper published in San Francisco, CA. Founded by two Black businessmen, Mifflin W. Gibbs, and James Townsend, the Mirror of the Times was a weekly newspaper that appealed to a small community of African Americans in California. Its first […]

Robert Curry Owens, Businessman born

*The birth of Robert Curry Owens is celebrated on this date in 1858. He was a Black businessman. He was born in Los Angeles, California, to Charles Owens, a livery stable owner, and Ellen Mason-Owens. As the first-born grandson to the Owens-Mason union, Robert rose to prominence in Los Angeles after inheriting his father’s and […]

The St. Cloud Visiter Newspaper is Published

*On this date in 1858, we celebrate the St. Cloud Visiter newspaper. It was founded in St. Cloud, Minnesota, by newspaper publisher Jane Grey Swisshelm. In 1857, she left her husband in Pittsburgh to form the paper. The venture was short-lived; a group of men supporting slavery destroyed her printing press later that March. Sylvanus B. Lowry, a […]

Alonzo Herndon, Businessman born

*Alonzo Herndon was born on this date in 1858. He was an African American businessman.

Frank M. Boyer, Community Visionary born

*Frank Boyer was born on this date in 1858. He was a Black settler and teacher. Francis Marion Boyer was born in Washington County, Missouri, the son of Henry Boyer, a freedman from Pullam, Georgia. His father was a wagoner with the army units during the Mexican-American War. As a child, he heard stories about […]

Andrew Hilyer, Businessman born

*The birth of Andrew Hilyer in 1858 is marked on this date. He was a Black businessman, inventor, lawyer and activist. Andrew F. Hilyer was born a slave in Georgia, and grew up in Nebraska and Minnesota.

Tom Bass, Horse Trainer born

*Tom Bass was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black Saddlebred horse trainer and businessman. Tom Bass was born a slave on the Hayden plantation in Boone County, Missouri. His mother, Cornelia Gray, was also a slave, and his father, William Bass, was the son of the plantation owner, Eli Bass. He […]

Junius Groves, Agribusiness Entrepreneur born

*Junius Groves was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black farmer and entrepreneur. Junius George Groves, the son of Martin and Mary Anderson Groves, was born in slavery in Green County, Kentucky. After emancipation, he received public schooling three months out of the year but taught himself to read, write, and understand mathematics. As […]

Horace Cayton Sr., Newspaper Publisher born

On this date, we remember the birth in 1859 of Horace Cayton, an African American who had been a slave and became publisher of the Seattle Republican newspaper.

Edward C. Cooper, Journalist born

*Edward E. Cooper was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black newspaper publisher.   Edward Elder Cooper was born into slavery in Duval County, Florida; his mother was Sallie Porter, born in 1830. As a youth, he and his family moved north in search of better opportunities, and he attended high school […]

William Shorey, Sea Captain born

On this date, we celebrate the birth of William T. Shorey, an African American whaling captain and entrepreneur, in 1859.

Born on the island of Barbados, Shorey was attracted to the sea early in his life. A seaman’s life was not easy, but for Shorey, and many other Black men, it offered opportunity and a freedom unattainable in other occupations. In 1875, as a crew member aboard a British vessel bound for Boston, Shorey gained the attention of the ship’s captain, who took time to teach him the basics of navigation. By 1880, Shorey had become an officer.

The Anglo-African Magazine is Published

*On this date in 1859, the Weekly edition of the Anglo-African magazine was published.  It and the Anglo-African magazine were perhaps the most influential Black journals of the late 1850s and during the American Civil War era. They were unique in that they served as forums for debate rather than simply reflecting the views of the publisher. The journalist Thomas Hamilton, the son […]

Charles Lewis Baker, Inventor and Businessman born

*Charles Lewis Baker was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black inventor and business owner. Charles S. Lewis Baker was born into slavery in Savannah, Missouri. His mother, Betsy Mackay, died when he was three months old, leaving him to be brought up by his owner’s wife, Sallie Mackay, and his father, […]