People, Locations, Episodes

Frank Boyd, Union Activist born

*The birth of Frank Boyd in 1881 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American Pullman Porter and labor activist.

The Minnesota Women’s Sufferage Association is Founded

*The Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was founded on this date in 1881. MWSA was an organization devoted to women’s suffrage in Minnesota. After the American Civil War and the fall of Reconstruction, activism from Blacks and women found common ground against voter suppression. Created at the Presbyterian Church in Hastings, Minnesota, the MWSA members organized marches, wrote petitions […]

Jennie Belle Murphy Covington, Feminist and Activist born.

*Jennie Belle Murphy Covington was born on this date in 1881. She was a Black feminist and activist. Jennie Belle Murphy was born in Clinton, Texas, to an unknown father and Rachel Thomas. She was raised in Dement, Texas, by her aunt and uncle, Jane and Will Jones. She attended Guadalupe College in Seguin, Texas, […]

Williana Burroughs, Educator, and Activist born

*Williana Burroughs was born on this date in 1882. She was a Black teacher, communist political activist, and politician.  Williana “Liana” Jones Burroughs was born in Petersburg, Virginia. Her mother was a slave; her father died when Williana was four. Her widowed mother left Virginia for New York City, bringing Williana with a sister and a brother, where she worked as a cook. Her […]

John Wesley Dobbs, Atlanta Civic Leader born

The birth of John Wesley Dobbs in 1882 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American postal clerk, civic leader, and activist.

Often called the Unofficial “Mayor” of Auburn Avenue,
Dobbs was born in Marietta, Georgia. In 1897, he went to Atlanta, worked at a drugstore, and attended Atlanta Baptist College (Morehouse College). In 1903, Dobbs passed the U.S. postal exam to become a postal clerk and assumed a highly respected position for a Black man at the turn of the century. Three years later he married Irene Ophelia Thompson, and together they would have six daughters.

Harold Moody, Physician and Activist born.

*Harold Moody was born on October 8, 1882. He was an Afro Caribbean physician and activist. Harold Arundel Moody was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and Moody was the son of pharmacist Charles Ernest Moody and his wife Christina Emmeline Ellis. He completed his secondary education at Wolmer’s Schools. In 1904, he sailed to the United […]

Augustus Dill, Editor, Manager, and Activist born.

*Augustus Dill was born on this date in 1882. He was a Black Gay business manager, musician, and activist. Augustus Granville Dill was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, to John Dill and Elizabeth Jackson. He received his B.A. from Atlanta University in 1906, a second B.A. from Harvard in 1908, and his M.A. from Harvard in […]

Jane E. Hunter, Community Activist born

*On this date in 1882 Jane Edna Hunter was born. She was an African American activist and reformer.

Lawrence Nixon, Physician, and Voting Advocate born

*Lawrence Nixon was born on this date in 1883. He was a Black physician and voting-rights advocate.

Hubert Harrison, Activist born

*The birth of Hubert Harrison in 1883 is marked on this date. He was an African American activist, educator, and writer.

Jessie Daniel Ames, Activist born

*Jessie Daniel Ames was born on this date in 1883.  She was a white suffragist and American Civil Rights leader.  She was born Jessie Harriet Daniel in Palestine, Texas. Her mother was Laura Maria Leonard, and her father was James Malcolm Daniel.  Ames was admitted to the Ladies Annex of Southwestern University at 13 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in […]

Daisy Lampkin, Suffragist born

*Daisy Lampkin was born on this date in 1884.  She was a Black suffragist, civil rights activist, administrator, and community leader. Daisy Elizabeth Adams was from Washington, D.C. She was the daughter of George Adams from Virginia and Rose Proctor from Charles County, Maryland. Her grandparents were Joseph Jenifer Proctor and Elizabeth Swann, free persons of color. After […]

David Hamilton Jackson, Labor Rights Advocate born

*David Hamilton Jackson was born on this date in 1884. He was a Black educator and labor rights advocate. He was born in Estate East Hill, St. Croix, Danish West Indies. Jackson worked as an educator and later a bookkeeper and clerk before becoming involved in the politics of the Danish West Indies. He traveled […]

Chris Braithwaite, Union Activist born

*This date marks the birth of Chris Braithwaite in 1885. He was an Afro Barbadian union activist in the Colonial Seamen’s Association.   Braithwaite, also known as Chris Jones, was born in Barbados. As a teenager, he went to sea with the British Merchant Navy and traveled the world as a sailor. He settled in Chicago before rejoining the Merchant Navy during World War I. […]

The ‘Brotherhood of Liberty’ is formed

*The Brotherhood of Liberty was formed on this date in 1885. Known as Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty, it was in Baltimore, Maryland, that the organization sought to remove social injustices and protect the civil rights of Blacks against the structures of the Jim Crow Era. The Brotherhood of Liberty used legal means to protect […]