*Rufus Perry was born on this date in 1834. He was a Black educator, journalist, and Baptist minister. Rufus L. Perry was born a slave on a plantation in Smith County, Tennessee to Lewis Perry and Maria. The family was owned by Archibald W. Overton. His father was a talented mechanic, carpenter, and cabinet maker, […]
learn more*Eliza Ann Gardner was born on this date in 1831. She was a Black abolitionist, religious leader, and women’s movement leader. Eliza Ann Gardner was born in New York City to James and Eliza Gardner. As a child, she moved with her family to Boston, where her father had a successful career as a shipping contractor. […]
learn more*The birth of Peter Spencer is celebrated on this date in 1782. He was a religious leader and the father of the Independent Black Church Movement. Born a slave in Kent County, Maryland, Spencer was manumitted upon the death of his master and moved to Wilmington. A mechanic with some knowledge of the law, Spencer […]
learn more*The birth of Samuel Sharpe is celebrated on this date in 1801. Also known as Sam Sharpe, he was an enslaved Black Jamaican preacher and abolitionist. Samuel Sharpe was born into slavery in the parish of St James, Jamaica. He was raised on a plantation owned by Samuel and Jane Sharpe. The 1817 slave records of […]
learn more*On this date in 1881, the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church was founded. Located in Birmingham, Ala. it closely parallels the story of people in the country, who were freed from slavery following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the ending of the American Civil War. Encouraged by Reverend M. Tyler, president of the Alabama […]
learn more*Dr. James Walker Hood Eason was born this date in 1887. He was a Black minister and activist. From Sunbury, North Carolina, he was the son of Douglass and Lucinda Eason, former slaves. His parents were members of the AME Zion Church and named him after their bishop, James Walker Hood. Young Eason was educated […]
learn more*Candomblé is celebrated on this date in 1800. This is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional religions of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organized through autonomous […]
learn more*The Sisterhood of the Good Death is celebrated on this date in 1823. The Sisterhood of Our Lady of the Good Death is a small but renowned Afro Catholic religious group in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The history of the “Sisterhood of the Good Death” is part of the history of the Middle Passage of Blacks from […]
learn more*The birth of George Leile is celebrated on this date in 1750. He was a Black minister. Named after his master, he was born a slave on the plantation of a Mr. Leile in the State of Virginia. Early in his life, speculators brought him to Georgia and sold him to Henry Sharpe, of Kiokee, […]
learn more*The birth of Rev. D.A. Holmes is celebrated on this date in 1876. He was a Black minister and community leader. Daniel Arthur Holmes the son of former slaves was born in Randolph County, Missouri. His family moved to Macon, Missouri after being freed at the end of the American Civil War. Holmes, at age […]
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