People, Locations, Episodes

Mary Smith Kelsey Peake, Seamstress, and Teacher born

*Mary Smith Kelsey Peake’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1823. She was a Black teacher, school administrator, and seamstress.   Mary was born in Norfolk, Virginia, the daughter of a free Black woman and a white Englishman. When she was six, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle to attend […]

Laura M. Towne, Educator, and Abolitionist born

On this date in 1825, Laura Matilda Towne was born. She was a White American educator and abolitionist.

From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Towne studied homeopathic medicine privately and attended the Penn Medical University. She taught in charity schools in various northern towns and cities in the 1850s and ’60s. Early in 1862 she answered an appeal for volunteers to teach, nurse, and otherwise help former slaves who had been freed in the Union capture of Port Royal and other Sea Islands area of South Carolina. In April of that year she arrived at St. Helena Island, SC.

Sarah Jane Early, Educator born

On this date in 1825, Sarah Jane Early was born. She was a Black teacher, abolitionist, and feminist.

Martin Freeman, Educator born

*The birth of Martin Freeman in 1826 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black educator, and administrator.

From Rutland, Vermont, Martin Henry Freeman graduated from Middlebury College as Salutatorian in 1849. In 1854, he was appointed Professor at the Allegheny Institute near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which later became Avery College. Here, he gained a great following in mathematics and science. Freeman was appointed President of the school in 1856, the first Black man to hold the position of College President in America.

Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Teacher born

*This date in 1827 is celebrated as the birth date of Elizabeth Jennings Graham. She was a Black teacher, church organist, and civil rights figure.   Elizabeth Jennings was born free in New York City. Her parents, Thomas L. Jennings and his wife, born Elizabeth Cartwright, had three children. Their names were Matilda Jennings Thompson, […]

The Oneida Institute Begins Classes

*The Oneida Institute opening is celebrated on this date in 1827.  They were a short-lived (16 years) but highly influential school that was a national leader in the (then) emerging anti-slavery movement.   George Washington Gale founded it as the Oneida Institute of Science and Industry.   His former teacher (in the Addison County Grammar School, Middlebury, John Frost, now a Presbyterian minister in Whitesboro […]

Emily Howland, Educator and Abolitionist born

*Emily Howland was born on this date in 1827.  She was a white-American philanthropist, abolitionist, and educator.   Emily Howland was born in Sherwood, Cayuga County, New York.  She was the daughter of Slocum and Hannah Tallcot Howland, who were prominent in the Society of Friends.  Her brother, William Howland, served in the 106th New […]

The African Dorcas Association Begins

*On this date, 1828, the African Dorcas Association was founded. This was a Black women’s community aid society in New York City.   The women of this group sewed clothes for the city’s Black children so that they would have appropriate attire for school. They were also one of the first societies where “women met independently and without the supervision of men.” Through […]

Saint Frances Academy High School Opens

*On this date in 1828, we celebrate Saint Frances Academy. This secondary institute is an independent Catholic high school in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the first and oldest continually operating Black Catholic educational facility in the United States. In the early 1800s, various Protestant organizations in Baltimore, such as Sharp Street Methodist Episcopal Church’s Free African […]

Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood, Educator born

*This date in 1828 is celebrated as the birth date of Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood, a 19th-century Black educator and activist.    Elizabeth Thorn was born a free woman in New York State. She received a good education in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and married her first husband, Joseph Scott.  In 1852, Elizabeth and her husband moved […]

Clinton Fisk, Freedman’s Bureau Pioneer born

Clinton Fisk was born on this date in 1828. He was a White American soldier, prohibitionist, businessman, and educator.

Born near the Erie Canal in Western New York, Clinton Bowen Fisk was the son of Benjamin Bigford Fisk and Lydia Aldrich Fisk. His parents moved to what was then Michigan Territory while he was a baby. His father’s death caused him and his family to grow up in poverty.

Young Fisk did establish himself as a small banker in Coldwater, Michigan, where in 1850, he married Jeannette Crippen. Fisk’s bank business was ruined in the economic Panic of 1857.

Oliver Howard, Soldier, and Administrator born

*Oliver Howard was born on this date in 1830.  He was a white-American soldier and spiritual base administrator.   Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, Maine, the son of Rowland Bailey Howard and Eliza Otis Howard. Rowland, a farmer, died when Oliver was nine years old. Oliver attended Monmouth Academy in Monmouth, North Yarmouth […]

Sarah J. Tompkins Garnet, Educator and Suffragist born.

*Sarah J. Tompkins Garnet was born on this date in 1831. She was a Black educator and suffragist. Sarah J. Smith was born on the Shinnecock Reservation of Long Island. She was the daughter of Sylvanus and Anne Smith, both of African, Native American, and European heritage. She was the oldest of 11 children; her […]

Edward W. Blyden, Nationalist born

*On this date we recall the birth of Edward Wilmot Blyden in 1832. He was a Black Nationalist and Repatriations advocate.

Mathilda Beasley, Educator, and Nun born

*Mathilda Beasley was born on this date in 1832. She was a Black teacher, seamstress, and nun. Mathilda Taylor was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 14, 1832. She was baptized as a Catholic in 1869, possibly in preparation for her marriage to Abraham Beasley, a wealthy free Black restaurant owner in Savannah, who […]