Slavery in the US

Delphine LaLaurie was a prominent New Orleans socialite in the early 19th century who became infamous for the atrocities committed at her mansion, particularly after a fire in 1834 revealed the horrific conditions in which enslaved Africans were kept. Born...

Onesimus was an enslaved African who, in the late 17th century, was purchased and given as a gift to Puritan minister Cotton Mather. His extensive knowledge of inoculation, a practice he had undergone in Africa to prevent smallpox, would...

Born in the United States, James H. Gordon is best known for his courageous advocacy for social justice, particularly his efforts to end the dehumanizing exhibition of Ota Benga at the Bronx Zoo in 1906.

Harry Washington was an African who was enslaved by none other than George Washington, the future first President of the United States. However, Harry’s story transcends the chains of slavery, as he not only fought for his own liberation...

John Hartfield was a black man who met a gruesome fate in Ellisville, Mississippi, in 1919, for the supposed crime of being romantically involved with a white woman, Ruth Meeks. Born into a society deeply divided along racial lines, Hartfield...

Tolton was an African-American born into slavery in Monroe County, Missouri, around 1854. During the Civil War, he fled to Quincy, Illinois, with his family and eventually became the first publicly recognized Black Catholic priest in the United States. Tolton's...

In 1897, when Frazier B. Baker, an African-American educator, assumed the role of postmaster in Lake City, South Carolina, local whites objected angrily and launched a campaign to remove him. Despite their efforts, when they failed to remove Baker...

Jonathan Walker, also known as "The Man with the Branded Hand", was an American abolitionist who was branded on his hand by the United States Government with the markings "S S", for "Slave Stealer" for attempting to help seven...

Luther Holbert born in 1852, was an African American man who was tortured and lynched alongside his wife by a mob in Doddsville, Mississippi on Sunday, February 7, 1904, after being accused of a double murder. Born into slavery in...

Heartbreak Day, also known as New Year's Day, was a day of great fear and sadness for many enslaved families in the United States. It was a time when slave owners would often sell off their slaves to other...