People, Locations, Episodes

Sir James Douglass, Statesman, and Businessman born

*Sir James Douglas was born on this date in 1803.  He was a Black Canadian Statesman.  Born in Demerara, British Guiana, he was the son of John Douglas and Miss Ritchie, a “Creole” woman from Barbados.  The couple had three children, Alexander, James, and Cecilia Eliza. John Douglas’ second family was with Jane Hamilton Douglas, and they had […]

William Lloyd Garrison, Abolitionist born

William Lloyd Garrison was born this date in 1805. He was a White American abolitionist and newspaper publisher.

The son of a seaman from Newburyport, MA., Garrison was indentured at the age of 14 to the owner of the Newburyport Herald where he became an expert printer. The struggles of all oppressed peoples for freedom built his kind character as a youth. He expressed this in articles he wrote anonymously or under the pseudonym Airsides, in the Herald and other newspapers. He tried to awaken Northerners from their apathy over the question of slavery in America.

William Goodridge, Businessman, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of William Goodridge is celebrated on this date in 1805. He was a Black businessman and abolitionist.

Lewis Woodson, Minister, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Lewis Woodson is celebrated on this date in 1806.  He was a Black minister and abolitionist.  Born free in Greenbrier County, Va. (now West Virginia).  Woodson was the oldest of eleven children born to Thomas and Jemima Woodson, both mulatto slaves who had gained their freedom.  Woodson family oral history, dating to […]

Norbert Rillieux, Engineer, and Inventor born

*This date marks the birth of Norbert Rillieux in 1806. He was an African American inventor and engineer whose patented inventions revolutionized the sugar refining industry.

Jeremiah Hamilton, Financier born

*The birth of Jeremiah Hamilton is celebrated on this date in 1806.  He was a 19th-century Black stockbroker, forger, and financier.  Sometimes called Jerry Hamilton, Jeremiah G. Hamilton was born in Haiti.   His death certificate stated he was born in the West Indies and listed Port-au-Prince as the birthplace of his parents. Hamilton first became […]

Henry Blair, Farmer, and Inventor born

*The birth of Henry Blair is celebrated on this date in 1807. He was a Black farmer and inventor. He was born in Glen Ross, Maryland, with little knowledge about his childhood. In the patent records, Blair is listed as a “colored man,” making this identification the only one of its kind in early patent […]

Silas Omohundro Jr., Slave Trader, born.

*Silas Omohundro Jr. was born on this date in 1807. He was a white-American slave trader. Born in Albemarle, Virginia, his father was Richard Omohundro Sr., and his mother was Edith Seay. Omohundro ran a slave trade business from what is now 15th Street in Richmond, VA. As a chattel slave trader, he engaged in the direct […]

Phillip A. Bell, Journalist born

*Philip Alexander Bell was born on this date in 1808. He was a Black journalist and abolitionist.

The Prospect Hill Plantation, a brief story

*The Prospect Hill Plantation is affirmed on this date in 1808. This was a former 5,000-acre plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. In the early 19th century, the plantation was owned by planter Isaac Ross of South Carolina, who enslaved African people to farm cotton as a cash crop. In 1830, Ross and other major planters […]

Jules Lion, Photographer born

*This date celebrates the birth of Jules Lion, a pioneering Black photographer, circa 1809.   Lion was born in France with mixed heritage and is listed as a free man of color (F M C) in the New Orleans City Directory. He introduced the daguerreotype photographic technic to New Orleans and established himself as an outstanding […]

William Gladstone, Politician and Slaveowner born.

*William Gladstone was born on this date in 1809. He was a white British statesman, enslaver, and politician. Born in Liverpool, William Ewart Gladstone was of Scottish ancestry, the fourth son of the wealthy enslaver John Gladstone and his second wife, Anne MacKenzie Robertson. In 1814, young “Willy” visited Scotland for the first time, as […]

William Leidesdorff, Explorer, and Businessman born

*On this date we celebrate the birth of William Alexander Leidesdorff, in 1810. He was a Black businessman and explorer.

The ‘Shotgun House’, Black Architecture and Heritage

The “shotgun house,” a residential house design, is celebrated on this date in 1810. It is a Black cultural architectural form that originated in the American South and was used extensively throughout the region.

Pierce Mease Butler, Slave Owner, born

*The birth of Pierce Mease Butler is affirmed on this date in 1810.  He was a white-American plantation and slave owner and farmer. Born in Philadelphia, PA., he was the grandson of Pierce Butler and changed his birth name Pierce Butler Mease to his surname Butler. During the Antebellum South, he inherited half of his grandfather’s […]