*The construction of the Monticello Plantation is affirmed on this date in 1772. This is one of the estimated 46,200 American plantations that existed in 1860. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres and built using slave labor. This was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third president […]
learn more*The birth of Sally Hemings in 1773 is celebrated on this date. She was a Black domestic chambermaid. She was also the mistress to and mother of (some) of the children of president Thomas Jefferson.
learn more*Benjamin Hawkins was born on this date in 1754. He was a white-American planter, slave owner, statesman, and U.S. Indian agent. Hawkins was born to Philemon Hawkins and Delia (Martin) Hawkins on August 15, 1754, the third of four sons. The family farmed and operated a plantation in Granville County, North Carolina. He attended the […]
learn moreThe birth of William McIntosh is affirmed on this date in 1775. He was a Creek Native American chief and slave owner. William McIntosh was born Tustunnuggee Hutke (White Warrior) in the Lower Creek town of Coweta in present-day Georgia. His parents were Senoya, a member of the Wind Clan, and his father, the Scottish American soldier William […]
learn more*This date in 1777 is celebrated as the birth date of Free Frank McWorter. He was a Black slave, abolitionist, and businessman who bought his freedom. Frank McWorter was born into slavery in South Carolina to Juda, a Black West African woman abducted into slavery and transported to the colony. His father was her white master, George McWhorter, a Scots-Irish planter. According to family […]
learn more*Shubael Conant was born on this date in 1783. He was a white-American merchant, silversmith, businessman, and abolitionist. Shubael Conant, the son of Eleazar Conant and Eunice Storrs, was born in Mansfield, Connecticut. He was apprenticed to the business of watchmaking at North Hampton and became thoroughly familiar with that trade. When he was twenty-six […]
learn more*Elleanor Eldridge was born on this date in 1785. She was a Black entrepreneur.
learn moreOn this date, we celebrate African American architecture. Blacks have been involved in building and architecture since the colonial era of America.
learn more*Arthur Tappan was born on this date in 1786. He was a white-American businessman, philanthropist, and abolitionist. Arthur Tappan was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, to Benjamin Tappan and Sarah Homes Tappan, a great-niece of Benjamin Franklin. He was the brother of Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan, abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and a great-grandfather of Thornton Wilder. They were […]
learn more*The Swedish West India Company is affirmed on this date in 1786. This was a Swedish chartered company based in the West Indies. It was the primary operator in the Swedish slave trade during the Middle Passage. Between 1786 and 1805, the company operated from the Swedish island of Saint-Barthélemy. The company was a private enterprise […]
learn more*Isaac Franklin was born on this date in 1789. He was a white-American slave trader and plantation owner. Isaac Franklin was born in Sumner County, TN, to Mary (née Lauderdale) and James Franklin Sr., who came from western North Carolina. James Franklin Sr. served Lord Dunmore during the American Revolutionary War and assisted in the construction […]
learn more*The birth of George Bush is celebrated on this date in 1790. He was a Black farmer. George Washington Bush was born in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s. Information about his birth and early years is sparse and conflicting. His father, Matthew Bush, was Black and said to have been a sailor from the British West […]
learn more*This date in 1791 is celebrated as the birth date of Thomas Downing, a free Black businessman and restaurant owner. Thomas Downing was born to formerly enslaved parents in the island village of Chincoteague, VA. Growing up, he learned to fish and dig for clams and oysters on his family’s land. Downing left Virginia in […]
learn more*This date in 1791 is celebrated as the birth date of Thomas Jennings, a Black tradesman and abolitionist. Thomas L. Jennings was born to a free Black family in New York City. As a youth, he learned a trade as a tailor. He built a business and married a woman named Elizabeth from Delaware, […]
learn more*James G. Birney was born on this date in 1792. He was a white-American abolitionist and politician who was once a slave owner. From Danville, Kentucky, James Gillespie Birney graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1810, where he studied law. He then moved to Alabama, where he made lots […]
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