*On this date in 1607, the Virginia Company of London, settled on Jamestown Island as the place to build their fort in America. Also called the London Company, it was an English joint-stock company. It was established in 1606 by royal charter by King James I to establish colonial settlements in North America. In Renaissance […]
learn more*The Headright Property System in America began on this date in 1618. A headright refers to a legal grant of land given to settlers during the period of European colonization in the Americas. Headright is most notable for its role in the expansion of the Thirteen Colonies; the Virginia Company gave headright to settlers, and […]
learn more*The birth of Anthony Johnson is celebrated on this date in 1606. He was an African slave and farmer and one of the first Black property owners in colonial America. He was a tobacco farmer in Maryland and had his right to legally own a slave recognized by the Virginia courts. There is no information […]
learn more*Phillip “Daddy” Reid was born on this date in 1854. He was a Black businessman, baseball administrator, and manager. Phillip Edward Reid was from in Frankfort, Kentucky. Not much is known about his childhood other than he grew up in a slave-holding state and would have been very young at the end of the American […]
learn more*On this date in 1896, the Northeastern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (NFCWC) was founded. This was an umbrella organization representing black women’s clubs in the northeastern United States. The organization was affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACWC). It was one of the first umbrella organizations for Black women’s clubs in the United […]
learn more*The birth of Elizabeth Carter Brooks is celebrated on this date in 1867. She was a Black educator, social activist, and architect. Elizabeth Carter was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Her mother, Martha Webb, had been a former slave owned by President John Tyler. Webb was involved with the Underground Railroad. Her daughter went on […]
learn more*Mary Dickerson was born on this date in 1830. She was a Black businesswoman and club woman. Mary H. Dickerson was born in Haddam, Connecticut. She grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. Dickerson and her husband, Silas, moved to Newport, Rhode Island sometime around 1865. She opened a dressmaking shop in the early 1870s. She […]
learn more*The birth of Harry Shepherd is celebrated on this date in 1856. He was a Black photographer and activist. From Salem, VA, he came to Minnesota in 1880. In 1887 Shepherd established his own photo studio in St. Paul, Minnesota with eight working attendants. Business was good enough that by 1888 he opened two more […]
learn moreGene Upshaw was born on this date in 1945. He was a Black football player and union administrator.
learn more*Henry Wagoner was born on this date in 1816. He was a Black abolitionist and civil rights activist. Henry O. Wagoner was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. As a child, Wagoner was taught to read by his paternal grandmother but was rarely able to attend school, achieving less than a year’s schooling while working on a farm. Starting […]
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