James Henry Hammond was a powerful and controversial figure in antebellum South Carolina. A U.S. representative, governor, and senator, Hammond was celebrated in his time for his political skill, wealth, and influence. Yet behind this public image lay a...
Levi Coffin was an abolitionist and humanitarian, often called the “President of the Underground Railroad” for his role in helping thousands of enslaved Africans escape to freedom. Alongside his wife, Catherine, he provided shelter, food, and guidance to fugitives...
John N. Forrest was an American slave jailor and disabled veteran active in the interregional slave trade in the United States prior to the American Civil War. He is best known for his role as the jailor of the slave...
Dorcas Allen was an enslaved African woman who killed her two youngest children in an Alexandria slave pen in 1837 rather than let them live in slavery. She reportedly tried to do the same to her older children and...
In the early hours of September 24, 1906, the body of a 30 year old Black man named Zeb Long was found hanging from a tree in East Point, Georgia. His death was not the result of any alleged...
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer Sr. was not a national celebrity of the Civil Rights Movement, but his work struck at the very heart of white supremacy in Mississippi. At a time when Black political participation was met with terror, Dahmer...
For millions of enslaved Black families in the United States, January 1 was never a day of joy. While the world around them celebrated the New Year with music, laughter, and hope, enslaved families faced dread and sorrow. They...
Rev. Thornton Stringfellow was the pastor of Stevensburg Baptist Church in Culpeper County, Virginia, and one of the most notorious defenders of slavery in antebellum America. While he also promoted Sunday Schools, and domestic missions, his enduring legacy is...
During the Jim Crow era, segregation depended on strict racial categories: a person was either Black or white, inferior or superior, barred or welcomed. Rev. Jesse Routte exposed the idiocy of that system in a remarkable way, not through...
Cordella Stevenson was a Black woman living in rural Mississippi. In 1915, after her son was suspected of a crime he didn’t commit, a white mob kidnapped and lynched her, leaving her body hanging in public. No one was...
