People, Locations, Episodes

Joseph Godfrey, Slave, and Dakota Ally born

*The birth of Joseph Godfrey is celebrated on this date in 1835. He was an enslaved Black man and a Dakota fighter. Joseph Godfrey was born into slavery in Mendota, Minnesota. He was the son of a French-Canadian voyageur named Joseph Godefroi and Courtney, an enslaved Black person brought from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Snelling by […]

The Haitian Indemnity Ocurrs

*On this date in 1825, Haiti signed the Ordinance of King Charles X. Often called the Haiti Indemnity, this was a controversial agreement between Haiti and France where France demanded an indemnity of 150 million francs from Haiti in claims over property, including Haitian slaves. 1791, France lost colonial control of the island through the […]

Orindatus Wall, Union Army Officer born

*Orindatus Wall was born on this date in 1825. He was a black lawyer, businessman and Union Army officer.

Uruguay Gains Independence From Spain

*On this date, in 1825, Uruguay gained independence from Spain. Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the […]

John Rock, Lawyer, and Abolitionist born

*John Rock was born on this date in 1825.  He was a Black lawyer, teacher, and abolitionist.  From Salem County, New Jersey, at an early age, John Stewart Rock had an insatiable appetite for learning. Although his parents were poor, they committed to sending young Rock to school.  At eighteen, Rock began to teach at […]

Alexander G. Clark, Iowa Lawyer born

*Alexander G. Clark was born on this date in 1826. He was a Black laborer, barber, lawyer and activist.

He was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, to John Clark, a former slave, and Rebecca Darnes Clark. At 13, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to learn barbering from an uncle, who also made sure the boy was well-schooled in other areas. Clark left Cincinnati in October 1841, working for a few months as a bartender on the steamboat George Washington before arriving, at 16, in Muscatine (then called Bloomington, in Iowa Territory). It was May 22, 1842.

Benjamin Grierson, Teacher, and Officer born

*Benjamin Grierson was born on this date in 1826.  He was a white-American teacher and career military officer. Benjamin Henry Grierson was born in the borough of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a section of Pittsburgh today. He was the youngest of five siblings. As a child, he was afraid of horses. In 1851, he became a music […]

Ignacio Zaragoza, Politician, and Soldier born

*Ignacio Zaragoza was born on this date in 1829. He was a Mexican government administrator, soldier, and abolitionist. He was born in the Mexican province of Texas, in the village of Bahía del Espiritu Santo, in Coahuila y Texas (now Goliad, Texas). He was the son of Miguel G. Zaragoza and María de Jesús Seguín. […]

Charles E. Vanderburgh, Judge born

*Charles Vanderburgh was born on this date in 1829. He was a white American lawyer, abolitionist and judge.

Born in Saratoga County, New York, Charles Edwin Vanderburgh graduated from Yale University in 1852. He taught school and studied law in Oxford, New York. In 1856, Vanderburgh moved to Minnesota Territory and practiced law in Minneapolis. In 1859, elected District Judge, Fourth Judicial District.

John M. Langston, Politician, and Educator born

This date marks the birth in 1829 of John Mercer Langston, an African American abolitionist, attorney, educator, and political activist.

Langston was born free to a white plantation owner John Quarles and Lucy Jane Langston, a slave. He was the youngest of four children. His older brother, Charles Henry, became noted abolitionist Charles Henry Langston, and John was the great-uncle of renowned poet Langston Hughes.

Edward Walker, Lawyer born

*The birth of Edward Walker is celebrated on this date in 1830.  He was a Black artisan and attorney.   Edward Garrison Walker was the son of Eliza and David Walker, an abolitionist who had written an appeal in 1829 calling for the end of slavery.  Born in Edgefield, SC, he received training in working with leather as a young man. He established […]

Oliver Howard, Soldier, and Administrator born

*Oliver Howard was born on this date in 1830.  He was a white-American soldier and spiritual base administrator.   Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, Maine, the son of Rowland Bailey Howard and Eliza Otis Howard. Rowland, a farmer, died when Oliver was nine years old. Oliver attended Monmouth Academy in Monmouth, North Yarmouth […]

America’s ‘Black Codes,’ a definition

*On this date in 1832, we acknowledge Black Codes in the United States.  Sometimes called Black Laws, Black Codes were (are) laws governing the conduct of Black people during slavery and after emancipation. Southern states passed the best example in 1865 and 1866 after the American Civil War to restrict African Americans’ freedom and require them to work for low wages. […]

Joseph Rainey, Congressman born

On this date in 1832, Joseph Hayne Rainey was born. A former slave, he was the first Black man to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives (1870-79).

Edward W. Blyden, Nationalist born

*On this date we recall the birth of Edward Wilmot Blyden in 1832. He was a Black Nationalist and Repatriations advocate.