People, Locations, Episodes

Harriet Purvis, Suffragist born

*The birth of Harriet Purvis is celebrated on this date in 1810.  She was a Black abolitionist and first-generation suffragist.  Harriet Davy Forten was born in Philadelphia and was one of eight children of James Forten and Charlotte Vandine Forten, who lived at 92 Lombard Street.  James Forten was a wealthy investor, businessman, and abolitionist born free. The Forten’s, the […]

David Ruggles, Abolitionist, and Writer born

*The birth of David Ruggles in 1810 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black abolitionist, protest leader and writer.

From Norwich, Connecticut, Ruggles moved to New York City at age 17, where he began working in a series of small businesses. Reasonably successful his primary work in life, however, was abolition of slavery. One of the most radical men of his times, Ruggles advocated self reliance, and felt that those “who would be free, themselves must strike the first blow.” He dedicated himself to helping anyone who wished to do this.

Jane DeVeaux, Teacher, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Jane A. DeVeaux is celebrated on this date in 1810. She was a Black mulatto teacher and abolitionist.  From Savanah, GA, she was the daughter of John Benjamin Deveaux (born into slavery) and Catherine Deveaux (a free woman from Antigua). Her father pastored the Third African Baptist Church in Savannah. She and her mother secretly taught […]

Robert Purvis, Abolitionist born

*Robert Purvis was born on this date in 1810. He was an African American political leader and abolitionist.

From Charleston, South Carolina, the second of three sons born to a white cotton merchant and a free woman of color, young Purvis was to be a determined opponent of slavery. At the age of nine, his father sent the family to Philadelphia where Purvis enrolled in the Pennsylvania Abolition Society’s Clarkson School. He later attended Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Cassius Marcellus Clay, Abolitionist born

*Cassius Marcellus Clay was born on this date in 1810. Nicknamed the “Lion of White Hall,” he was a Kentucky planter, politician, and abolitionist.   Cassius Marcellus Clay was born to Sally Lewis and Green Clay, one of Kentucky’s wealthiest planters and enslavers, who became a prominent politician. He was one of six children who survived to […]

Thomy Lafon, Philanthropist, and Abolitionist born

Thomy Lafon was born on this date in 1810. He was a Black businessman, abolitionist, and philanthropist.

Lafon was born a free person of color in New Orleans. His mother was Modest Foucher Lafon, a free woman of color born in Louisiana of a slave mother. His father was Pierre Laralde Lafon, a Frenchman who deserted the family when his son was still a boy. Pierre Lafon remained a bachelor sharing his home with his widowed sister, Alice Bodin. Young Lafon was self-educated and frugal with money from necessity.

Charles Sumner, Abolitionist in Politician born

Charles Sumner was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American politician and abolitionist.

Owen Lovejoy, Minister and Abolitionist born.

*Owen Lovejoy was born on this date in 1811. He was a White-American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and politician. Born in Albion, Maine, Owen Lovejoy was one of five brothers born to Elizabeth (Patee) and Daniel Lovejoy, a Congregational minister and farmer. He worked with his family on the farm until he was 18, and his parents […]

Abby Foster, Abolitionist born

*Abby Foster was born on this date in 1811. She was a white American abolitionist and advocate of women’s rights.

Horace Greeley, Journalist, and Abolitionist born

*Horace Greeley was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American journalist and abolitionist.

From in Amherst, New Hampshire, he trained as a printer moving to New York City where he became a journalist. Greeley worked for the New Yorker and in 1841 established the New York Tribune, a newspaper he edited for over thirty years. Greeley took a strong moral tone in his newspaper and campaigned against alcohol, tobacco, gambling, prostitution and capital punishment. However, Greeley’s main concern was the abolition of slavery.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1811 is marked on this date.

From Cincinnati, she is probably the most famous of the Beecher daughters. She was given the approved religious education of the time, but was troubled her entire life with doubt and preoccupied with the problem of faith. It was not until the age of thirteen that Harriet was sent to Hartford, Connecticut, to attend a school for girls. Her closest confidant was her brother Henry, and throughout their lives they united in speaking out against the evils of slavery.

Adam Kok III, South African Leader born.

*Adam Kok III was born on this date in 1811. He was a Black leader of the Griqua people in South Africa. The son of Adam Kok II, he was born in Griqualand, West South Africa.  Kok III was educated at the Philippolis Mission School after his family and father’s followers moved to the area […]

Wendell Phillips, Abolitionist born

*Wendell Phillips was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American businessman and abolitionist.

Martin R. Delany, Abolitionist, and Nationalist born

This date marks the day Martin Robinson Delany was born in 1812. He was an Black abolitionist, Black Nationalist, author, and soldier.

Jermain Loguen, Minister, and Abolitionist born

The birth of Jermain Wesley Loguen is celebrated on this date in 1813. He was a Black abolitionist and religious leader.