*Thomas Calloway was born on this date in 1866. He was a lawyer and administrator. Thomas Junius Calloway was born in Cleveland, Tenn. He was the fifth in a family of seven children. All the children attended Cleveland public schools, Thomas being graduated from Fisk University in 1889. He met his expense by a state scholarship, by […]
learn more*Thomas-Alexandre Dumas was born on this date in 1762. He was a Black French general in Revolutionary France. Born in Saint-Domingue (Haiti), Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was the quarteron son of Marquis Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a white French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas, an African slave. He was born into slavery […]
learn more*On this date in 1770, Alexandre Pétion was born. He was a Black politician, soldier the first President of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death. Alexandre Sabès Pétion was born “Anne Alexandre Sabès” in Port-au-Prince. His father was Pascal Sabès, a wealthy white French father, and Ursula, a free mulatto woman. Like other free […]
learn more*On this date in 1776, Jean-Pierre Boyer was born. He was a Black soldier and politician. Jean-Pierre Boyer was born in Port-au-Prince and was the mulatto son of a French tailor and an African mother, a former slave from Congo. He was sent to France by his father to become educated. During the French Revolution, he fought […]
learn more*Peter Burnett was born on this date in 1807. He was a white-American slave owner and politician who enforced discriminatory legislation against Black and Native Americans, and Chinese immigrants in the west. Raised in a slave-owning family in Missouri, Peter Hardeman Burnett moved westward after his business left him heavily in debt. Initially residing in […]
learn more*On this date in 2017, Cherokee Nation v. Nash was ruled. This ruling gave decedents of African slaves of the Native American tribe Cherokee citizenship. The decision stated holding that “Cherokee Nation’s sovereign right to determine its membership” was limited by an “1866 Treaty” giving certain descendants of former slaves held by Cherokee Nation before the […]
learn more*The birth of Nicholas Said is celebrated on February 25, 1836. He was a Black translator, soldier, and author. He was born Muhammed ‘Ali Sa’id, in Kukawa, Bornu Empire, now a part of Cameroon. Said was kidnapped and fell victim to the Trans-Saharan slave trade. His aptitude for learning languages, however, led to the elevation of […]
learn more*Charles Douglass was born on this date in 1844. He was a Black soldier, journalist, government clerk, real estate developer, and secretary and treasurer. He was the third and youngest son of Frederick Douglass and his first wife Anna Murray Douglass. Charles Remond Douglass was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, named after a friend of his father and anti-slavery […]
learn more*On this date in 1864, The 5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry was formed. This was a cavalry regiment from Massachusetts, that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was organized at Camp Meigs, Readville. From May 12, 1864, it served dismounted and equipped as infantry until the end of […]
learn more9*Lewis Henry Douglass was born on this date in 1840. He was a Black typesetter, soldier, teacher, and administrator. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the oldest son of Frederick Douglass and his first wife Anna Murray Douglass. He was well educated and as a boy apprenticed, in Rochester, New York, as a typesetter for his father’s […]
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