People, Locations, Episodes

Lydia Flood Jackson, Businesswoman born

*Lydia Flood Jackson was born on this date in 1862.  She was a Black businesswoman, suffragist, and club woman.   Lydia Flood was born in Brooklyn, California, now annexed to Oakland, California.  Her mother was Elizabeth Thorn Scott, and her father was Isaac Flood. Her mother was educated in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She moved to […]

Ida B. Wells, Journalist, and Anti-Lynching Advocate born

On this date in 1862, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born. She was an African American journalist, advocate of civil rights, women’s rights, economic rights, and an anti-lynching crusader.

Ida Gibbs Hunt, Global Racial and Gender Activist born

*Ida Gibbs Hunt was born on this date in 1862.  She was a Black administrator and international racial and gender equality activist. Ida Alexander Gibbs was born in Victoria, British Columbia. Ida’s father, Judge Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, was one of the wealthiest African Americans in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Before he acquired […]

William H. Baldwin Jr. Philanthropist born

William Henry Baldwin Jr. was born on this date in 1863. He was a white-American corporate executive and philanthropist    He was the son of William Henry Baldwin, a dry goods merchant, and Mary Chaffee. A descendant of an English settler who had arrived in Massachusetts before 1640, Baldwin grew up in a family noted for its […]

Homer Plessy, Activist born

*Homer Plessy, an African American businessman and civil rights activist, was born on this date in 1863.

Jesse Moorland, Minister, and Civic Leader born

On this date in 1863, Jesse Moorland was born. He was a Black minister, community executive, and civic leader.

Jesse Edward Moorland came from Coldwater, Ohio, the only child of a farming family. When he was an infant, his mother died and his father left him to be raised by his maternal grandparents.

Mary Church Terrell, Activist born

This date marks the birth of Mary “Mollie” Church Terrell in 1863. She was an African American social activist who was co-founder and first president of the National Association of Colored Women.

Emma Ransom, Civic Leader born

*Emma Ransom was born on this date in 1864. She was a Black club woman and civic leader. Emma Sarah Connor was born to Jackson and Beattie Connor, former slaves. The Connors moved their ten children to Selma, Ohio, where Emma attended school. She trained as a teacher at Wilberforce University as a young woman. She taught school […]

The National Equal Rights League is Founded

*The National Equal Rights League (NERL) was founded on this date in 1864.  NERL is the oldest national human rights organization in the United States. It was founded at the National Conference of Colored Men in Syracuse, New York, dedicated to the liberation of black people in America. Its origins began with the emancipation of slaves […]

Verina M. Jones, Physician, and Public Servant born

*Verina Morton Jones was born on this date in 1865.  She was a Black physician, suffragist, and club woman. Verina Harris Morton Jones was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to William D. and Kittie Stanley. From 1884 she attended the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She graduated and earned her M.D. in 1888. Following […]

The Freedman’s Bureau Is Formed

*This date celebrates the Freedmen’s Bureau. During the Reconstruction period, after the American Civil War (1865-72), the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established by Congress to provide practical aid to 4,000,000 newly freed Black Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom.

Mary Ovington, Journalist, and Activist born

Mary White Ovington was born on this date in 1865. She was a White American suffragette, socialist, Unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP.

William A. Hunton Sr., Activist, Minister, and Teacher born

*William A. Hunton was born on this date in 1865. He was a Black activist, teacher, and administrator. Hunton was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, the son of Stanton and Mary A. Johnson Hunton. The Hunton home was an “underground railway station” where John Brown occasionally held conferences on abolitionism. He received his A.M. degree from Wilberforce Collegiate […]

Addie Waites Hunton, Race, and Gender Activist born

*Addie Waites Hunton was born on this date in 1866.  She was a Black suffragist, race and gender activist, writer, political organizer, and educator.   Addie D. Waites was born to Jesse and Adeline Waites in Norfolk, Virginia.  Her mother died when she was very young, and Addie then moved to Boston to be raised by her maternal aunt.  In Boston, Waites attended […]

The Howard Colored Orphans Asylum Opens

*On this date in 1866, the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum is celebrated. This was one of the few American orphanages to be led by and for Blacks. It was on Troy Avenue and Dean Street in Weeksville, New York City. Black Presbyterian minister Henry M. Wilson, black widow Sarah A. Tillman, and white general Oliver Otis […]