People, Locations, Episodes

Judy W. Reed, Inventor born

*On this date in c.1826, Judy W. Reed’s birth is celebrated. She was a Black inventor during the 1880s. Little is known about Judy Woodford Reed or Reid. She first appears in the 1870 Federal Census as a 44-year-old seamstress in Fredericksviile Parish near Charlottesville, Virginia, in Albemarle County, along with her husband Allen, a […]

Freedom’s Journal Newspaper is Published

*On this date in 1827, the Freedom’s Journal newspaper was founded. It was the first Black-owned and operated newspaper in the United States.

Green Flake, Pioneer born

*Green Flake was born on this date in 1828. He was a Black laborer and explorer.  Green Flake was born a slave on the Jordan Flake Plantation in Anson County, North Carolina. At age ten, Green was given to Jordan Flake’s son, James, as a wedding present. James and Agnes Flake, their three-year-old son William, […]

The Franklin and Armfield Office, a story

*The Franklin and Armfield Office opened on February 28, 1828. This office of American slave trading is a historic commercial building in Alexandria, Virginia (until 1846, the District of Columbia). The 1315 Duke Street building is located just west of Alexandria’s Old Town, on the north side of Duke Street, between Southwest and South Payne […]

Solomon G. Brown, Administrator, and Technician born.

*Solomon G. Brown was born on this date in 1829. He was a Black laborer, telegraph assistant, poet, lecturer, scientific technician, and the first Black employee of the Smithsonian Institution. Solomon Galleon Brown was born in Washington, D.C., the fourth of six children to his parents, Isaac and Rachel Brown. His parents were former slaves, […]

Mayer Lehman, Slave Owner, and Businessman born

*Mayer Lehman was born on this date in 1830. He was a white Jewish-American businessman, banker, slave owner, and philanthropist. Mayer Lehman was born to a German-Jewish family in the small Franconian town of Rimpar near Würzburg. He was the son of a cattle merchant, Abraham Löw Lehmann. 1850, Mayer emigrated to the United States, […]

Black history and the ‘Mammy,’ a story

*Black history and the term ‘Mammy’ is affirmed on March 24, 1830. This is a historical American labeled stereotype describing Black women, usually enslaved, doing domestic work, including nursing white children of slave owners. The fictionalized mammy character is often a dark-skinned woman with a motherly personality. The origin of the mammy figure stereotype is […]

James K. Hilyard, Businessman born

*James Hilyard was born on this date in 1830.  He was a Black businessman and activist.  From Lancaster, PA, at an early age, James Kidd Hilyard worked on the steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.   Records indicate that in 1845, he resided in Philadelphia, and by 1856, he was working in St. Paul, Minnesota.   […]

Louis Southworth, Oregon Farmer born

The birth of Louis A. Southworth in 1830 is marked on this date. He was an Black blacksmith, fiddler, and farmer.

Mary Dickerson, Businesswoman, and Club Woman born

*Mary Dickerson was born on this date in 1830. She was a Black businesswoman and clubwoman. Mary H. Dickerson was born in Haddam, Connecticut, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. Around 1865, Dickerson and her husband, Silas, moved to Newport, Rhode Island. In the early 1870s, she opened a dressmaking shop on Bellevue Avenue. […]

Edward P. Duplex, Barber born

*Edward P. Duplex was born on this date in 1831. He was a Black barber and a pioneer of California.   Edward Park Duplex, born in New Haven, Connecticut, was the oldest son of Prince Jr. and Adaline Duplex. His father died in 1832, leaving Adaline, a dressmaker, to support the three Duplex children. Edward […]

Elizabeth Bowser, Artisan born

*Elizabeth Bowser was born on this date in 1831. She was a Black seamstress, artisan, businesswoman, and philanthropist. Born Elizabeth (Lizzie) Harriet Stevens, she lived in Philadelphia’s Twelfth Ward with her husband, David Bustill Bowser, who ran a successful business. The couple manufactured memorabilia, regalia, and decorative objects for the many voluntary associations in the […]

Sarah Boone, Inventor born

*Sarah Boone was born on this date in 1832. She was a Black seamstress and inventor.   Sarah Marshall was born a slave in Craven County, North Carolina, near New Bern. On November 25, 1847, she married James Boone in New Bern; they had eight children. The Boone family left North Carolina for New Haven, Connecticut, before the outbreak of the American Civil War; they settled […]

Paul Brock, Broadcast Journalist born

*Paul Brock was born on this date in 1932.   He was a Black broadcast journalist and community activist.  An only child from Washington, D.C., Brock attended Howard University and spent eighteen years as a radio journalist before moving into television production and reporting at WBNB in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. From there, Brock became news […]

Mary Fields, Montana Stagecoach Driver born

Mary Fields was born a slave on this date in 1832. She was a Black entrepreneur and stagecoach driver.

Fields was born a slave in Tennessee; she grew up an orphan, never married, and had no children. Fields lived by her wits and her strength. She traveled north to Ohio, settled in Toledo, and worked for the Catholic convent where she formed a strong bond with Mother Amadeus. The nuns of her early life were her family. When the nuns moved to Montana and Mary learned of Mother Amadeus’ failing health, she went west to help out.