*The birth of Thomas Walker is affirmed on this date in 1758. He was a white British slave trader. He is the ancestor of two U.S. presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Thomas Walker was born in Henbury, now a suburb of Bristol, England. Also known as Beau, Walker worked when Bristol […]
learn more*Paul Cuffe was born on this date in 1759. He was an Black philanthropist, merchant, sea captain and abolitionist.
learn more*John Clarkson Jr. was born on this date in 1764. He was a white European Royal Navy officer and abolitionist. John Clarkson was born in Wisbech. His father was headmaster of Wisbech Grammar School. After his father’s death, the family lived in the town. In 1777, aged 13, he entered the Royal Navy and served […]
learn more*Pierre Toussaint was born on this date in 1766. He was Haitian immigrant to America, businessman and philanthropist.
learn more*The birth of Pierre Bonga is celebrated on this date in c: 1770. He was a Black trapper and interpreter. Born in Michigan, he was the son of Jean and Marie-Jeanne Bonga, an enslaved couple. They had been brought with their family in 1782 to Mackinac Island by their British master, Captain Daniel Robertson. His […]
learn more*Anthony D. Allen was born on this date in 1772. He was a Black mariner and businessman. From Schenectady, New York, he was owned by the Dougal family, his mother was their slave, and his father was a freeman and a mariner. As a young man, he developed medical skills in Schenectady, where ill or […]
learn more*The construction of the Monticello Plantation is affirmed on this date in 1772. This is one of the estimated 46,200 American plantations that existed in 1860. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres and built using slave labor. This was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third president […]
learn more*The birth of Sally Hemings in 1773 is celebrated on this date. She was a Black domestic chambermaid. She was also the mistress to and mother of (some) of the children of president Thomas Jefferson.
learn more*Benjamin Hawkins was born on this date in 1754. He was a white-American planter, slave owner, statesman, and U.S. Indian agent. Hawkins was born to Philemon Hawkins and Delia (Martin) Hawkins on August 15, 1754, the third of four sons. The family farmed and operated a plantation in Granville County, North Carolina. He attended the […]
learn moreThe birth of William McIntosh is affirmed on this date in 1775. He was a Creek Native American chief and slave owner. William McIntosh was born Tustunnuggee Hutke (White Warrior) in the Lower Creek town of Coweta in present-day Georgia. His parents were Senoya, a member of the Wind Clan, and his father, the Scottish American soldier William […]
learn more*The birth of Free Frank McWorter is celebrated on this date in 1777. He was a Black slave, abolitionist, and businessman who bought his freedom. Frank McWorter was born into slavery in South Carolina to Juda, a Black West African woman abducted into slavery and transported to the colony. His father was her white master, George McWhorter, a Scots-Irish planter. According to family tradition, Juda […]
learn more*Shubael Conant was born on this date in 1783. He was a white-American merchant, silversmith, businessman, and abolitionist. Born in Mansfield, Connecticut, Shubael Conant, was the son of Eleazar Conant and Eunice Storrs. He was apprenticed to the business of watchmaking, at North Hampton, and became thoroughly familiar with that trade. When twenty-six years old, […]
learn more*Elleanor Eldridge was born on this date in 1785. She was a Black entrepreneur.
learn moreOn this date, we celebrate African American architecture. Blacks have been involved in building and architecture since the colonial era of America.
learn more*Arthur Tappan was born on this date in 1786. He was a white-American businessman, philanthropist, and abolitionist. Arthur Tappan was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, to Benjamin Tappan and Sarah Homes Tappan, a great-niece of Benjamin Franklin. He was the brother of Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan, abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and a great-grandfather of Thornton Wilder. They were […]
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