People, Locations, Episodes

Amanda Dickson, Black Aristocrat born

Amanda America Dickson was born on this date in 1849. She was an African American aristocrat.

She was born on the Hancock County plantation of white agricultural reformer Davis Dickson, who raped her Black slave mother, Julia Frances Lewis. At the time, David Dickson was the wealthiest planter in the county. Young Dickson grew up in the house of her white grandmother and owner, where she learned to read, write, and play piano–unusual opportunities for a slave child. Records show that her father doted on her openly and her mother became his concubine and housekeeper.

Hallie Q. Brown, Suffragist born

This date marks the birth of Hallie Quinn Brown in 1850. She was a Black educator and elocutionist who pioneered in the movement for Black women’s clubs in the United States.

Felix Adler, Social Activist born

*Felix Adler was born on this date in 1851.  He was a white Jewish-American professor, rationalist, lecturer, and social reformer.   Felix Adler was born in Alzey, Rhenish Hesse, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany, the son of a rabbi, Samuel Adler, a leading figure in European Reform Judaism. The family immigrated to the United States from Germany when Felix was six so his father could accept the appointment as head rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in New […]

Julia Hooks, Activist, and Educator born

The birth of Julia A. B. Hooks in 1852 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American musician, educator and social worker.

Lucy Parsons, Activist, and Socialist born

*On this date we recall the birth of Lucy Parsons in 1853. She was a Black socialist and anarchist whose work made her a prominent figure in American politics.

Accounts differ as to Parson’s birth place but some historians have said she was born a slave in Texas. Certainly her marriage to Albert Parsons, a former Confederate soldier turned Radical Republican, was viewed as controversial. Shortly after their 1871 marriage, they left Waco, Texas, for Chicago, then a center of labor unrest and radical political movements.

The Provincial Freeman News is Published

*On this date in 1853, the Provincial Freeman published its first edition.  This was a Black Canadian progressive newspaper.   Active for four and a half years, it was published weekly.   The Provincial Freeman advocated equality, integration, and self-education for Black people in Canada and the United States. The paper’s tone toward any stereotype of  Uncle Tom’s Cabin and white […]

Josephine Bruce, Teacher, and Activist born

Josephine Bruce, a Black teacher and social activist, was born on this date in 1853 in Philadelphia, PA.

Josephine Beall Willson Bruce was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of a Dr. Joseph Willson who was a dentist and writer and Elizabeth Harnett Willson a talented musician. After graduating from Cleveland’s Central High School in 1871, and completing a teachers training course, Willson was the first Black to join the faculty of an integrated Cleveland elementary school. In 1878, she married Blanche K. Bruce, senator from Mississippi.

Fannie Williams, Social Reformer born

*This date marks the birth of Fannie Barrier Williams in 1855. From Brockport, N.Y., she was a Black social reformer, lecturer, clubwoman, and co-founder of the National League of Colored Women.

Williams graduated from the local State Normal School (now the State University of New York College at Brockport) in 1870. Thereafter she taught in freedmen’s schools at various places in the South and in Washington, D.C. She also studied for periods at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and at the School of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C.

John Edward Bruce, Journalist born

*John Edward Bruce was born on this date in 1856.  He was a Black journalist, historian, writer, orator, civil rights activist, and Pan-African nationalist.    Also known as Bruce Grit or J. E. Bruce-Grit, he was born a slave in Piscataway, Maryland, to enslaved parents Robert and Martha Allen (Clark) Bruce. When he was three years old, his father was sold to a slaveholder in Georgia, and Bruce […]

Matilda McCrear, African Slave born

*The birth of Matilda McCrear in c1857 is affirmed on this date.  She was a Black African (Yoruba) woman who was enslaved and transported to America.   Matilda McCrear was captured by slave traders in West Africa when she was two years old and taken to the USA on the Clotilda, the last ship to transport enslaved Africans to […]

Robert Terrell, Teacher, and Judge born

*Robert Terrell was born on this date in 1857. He was a Black attorney, teacher, and judge.   Robert Heberton Terrell was born in Orange, Virginia, to parents Harrison and Louisa Ann Terrell. The family moved to Washington, DC, in 1865 after the American Civil War and emancipation ended. His father, Harrison Terrell, worked for a prominent […]

Anna Evans Murray, Educator, and Child Advocate, born

*The birth of Anna Evans Murray is celebrated on this date in 1857.  She was a Black civic leader, educator, and early advocate for training kindergarten teachers. Anna Evans was born in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1857. She was one of eight children of Henry Evans, a Black undertaker and cabinetmaker, and Henrietta Leary Evans, a […]

Celestine Edwards, Editor and Activist, born.

*Celestine Edwards was born on this date in 1857.  He was an Afro Dominican editor, public speaker, author, and anti-racist activist. Samuel Jules Celestine Edwards was born in Dominica. According to Edwards’ essays, published in Lux and Fraternity journals, he left Dominica in 1870 and worked odd jobs on ships. He also lived in America […]

The African Civilization Society is Formed

*On this date in 1858, The African Civilization Society is celebrated. This emigration organization was founded by several prominent members of the historic Weeksville community in New York City. The organization was intended to promote emigration to Liberia, which gained independence in 1847, and create a competing “free-labor” cotton industry with the slavery-based cotton industries of the […]

Alice W. Wiley Seay, Social Worker born

*The birth of Alice W. Wiley Seay is celebrated on this date in 1858. She was a Black social worker and woman’s rights advocate. Alice W. Wiley was born a slave in Giles, Virginia. By 1880, Seay was no longer living in her family home, and in June 1886, she married Pleasant Wiley. She and […]