People, Locations, Episodes

Henriette Delille, Religious Leader and Abolitionist born.

*The birth of Henriette Delille in 1813 is celebrated on this date. She was a Creole abolitionist and religious leader.

Harriet Jacobs, Author, and Abolitionist born

*This date celebrates the birth of Harriet Jacobs in 1813. She was an Black abolitionist and author.

James McCune Smith, Physician born

On this date in 1813, James McCune Smith was born. He was an African American physician and abolitionist.

From New York City, he received his early education at the African Free School. Though his academic credentials were exceptional, Smith was effectively barred from American Colleges because he was Black. Thus, Smith entered Glasgow University in Scotland in 1832 and earned three academic degrees, including a doctorate in medicine. He also gained a reputation in the Scottish anti-slavery movement as an officer of the Glasgow Emancipation Society.

Henry W. Beecher, Abolitionist born

Henry Ward Beecher was born on this date in 1813. He was a White American abolitionist, speaker and writer.

Samuel Burris, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Samuel Burris in 1813 is remembered on this date. He was a black abolitionist and member of the Underground Railroad.

Shadrach Minkins, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Shadrach Minkins in 1814 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black fugitive slave.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he escaped from slavery in 1849. Minkins settled in Boston, Massachusetts (a Free State), where he became a waiter. In 1850, Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Law, which allowed federal agents to seize escaped slaves living in Free states and return them to their owners. United States marshals arrested Minkins on February 15, 1851; but he was rescued by force by members of the anti-slavery Boston Vigilance Committee.

The Merikins Community is Established

*The origin of the Merikins is celebrated on this date in 1814. They were African expatriates of the War of 1812, freed black slaves who fought for the British against the American colonies.

Sengbe Piehis (Joseph Cinque), Abolitionist born

*Sengbe Piehis’s birth is celebrated on this date, c. 1814. Also known as Joseph Cinqué, sometimes called Cinqué, he was a West African man of the Mende people who led a revolt of many Africans on the Spanish slave ship La Amistad.   Cinqué was born in what is now Sierra Leone. His exact date of birth remains unknown. He was a rice farmer […]

Henry ‘Box’ Brown, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Henry Box Brown, in 1815, is celebrated on this date. He was a Black abolitionist and writer.

Emilie D. West, Texas Legend born

*The birth of Emily D. West is celebrated on this date, c.1815. She was a Black indentured servant and a folk heroine whose presence during the Texas Revolution is identified with the song “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” West was a free Mulatto woman from New Haven, Connecticut. In 1835, she was contracted to James Morgan to […]

Henry Bibb, Author, and Emigration Advocate born

This date marks the birth of Henry Bibb in 1815. He was a Black author, editor, abolitionist, and advocate of emigration from the United States.

Jane Swisshelm, News Publisher and Abolitionist born.

Jane Cannon Swisshelm was born in on this date in 1815. She was a White American educator, publisher, and abolitionist.

She was born in Pittsburgh, PA.,and when she was eight, her father died. She helped her mother support the family by lace making and, at the age of 14, as a schoolteacher. In 1836, she married James Swisshelm and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. It was here that she became involved in the campaign against slavery and became a member of the Underground Railroad. In 1848, Swisshelm established her own anti-slavery newspaper, the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter.

Henry Garnet, Abolitionist born

On this date in 1815, Henry H. Garnet was born. He was a Black theologian and abolitionist.

William C. Nell, Historian born

William Cooper Nell, a Black lecturer, journalist, and historian was born on this date in 1816.

He was born in Boston to William and Louise Cooper. A frequent reader of William Lloyd Garrison’s, “Liberator,” Nell joined the antislavery movement and began working for the Liberator newspaper in the 1840s. At many of the antislavery functions in Boston, he was Garrison’s personal representative. He became active in the Underground Railroad, until ill health forced him to withdraw.

The American Colonization Society is Founded

*The American Colonization Society (ACS) was founded on this date in 1816. Robert Finley established the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, which was officially established at the Davis Hotel in Washington, D.C. The ACS supported the migration of free American Blacks back to Africa. From 1821 to 1822, the Society helped to find a colony on the Pepper […]