Black History Appreciation!!!

[Deadpool1986]

I'm making this thread to honor those who came before us, to honor the brave black men and women who help pave the way for us in, Art ,Education, Science ,Sports, Politics. if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be where we are today, so for the next four weeks I will be posting up stories and articles on these brave, smart, extraordinary people. First up is James Derham (c. 1757-1802?) who was the first African-American to formally practice medicine in the United States though he never received an M.D. degree.

Derham was born into slavery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was owned by several doctors, and one of his owners, a physician named Dr. Robert Love, encouraged him to go into medicine. By working as a nurse, he purchased his freedom by 1783. He opened a medical practice, by age 26 his annual earnings exceeded $3,000.

Derham met with Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American medicine, and Rush was so impressed by Derham that he encouraged him to move to Philadelphia. There he became an expert in throat diseases and in the relationship between climate and disease.

He also had no siblings. Derham disappeared after 1802, his fate is unknown.



http://blkhistory.com/m/person/view/James-Derham

 

[Deadpool1986]

Second, Mary Jane Patterson (born September 12, 1840, in Raleigh, North Carolina) was the first African-American woman to receive a B.A degree. She was the oldest of Henry Irving Patterson and Emeline Eliza (Taylor) Patterson's children. There is conflicting data on how many siblings she had, but most sources cite between seven and ten. Henry Patterson worked as a bricklayer and plasterer who gained his freedom, after Mary was born, in 1852. After this, he moved his family north to Ohio. The Pattersons settled in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1856. Oberlin had a large community of black families, some were freed slaves and some were fugitive slaves. Oberlin was popular because it had a racially integrated co-ed college. Henry Patterson worked as a master mason, and for many years the family boarded large numbers of Black students in their home.

http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2871/Patterson-Mary-Jane.html

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

Cool thread. Don't forget Alexander pushkin.

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

Cool thread. Don't forget Alexander pushkin.

 

[Deadpool1986]

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley (May 8, 1753 – December 5, 1784) was both the second published African-American poet and first published African-American woman.[1] Born in Senegambia, she was sold into slavery at the age of 7 and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write, and encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.

The publication of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) brought her fame both in England and the American colonies; figures such as George Washington praised her work. During Wheatley's visit to England with her master's son, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in his own poem. Wheatley was emancipated after the death of her master John Wheatley.[2] She married soon after. Two of her children died as infants. After her husband was imprisoned for debt in 1784, Wheatley fell into poverty and died of illness, quickly followed by the death of her surviving infant son.
http://www.biography.com/people/phillis-wheatley-9528784

 

[Deadpool1986]

Allen, Macon Bolling (1816-1894)

Macon Bolling Allen is believed to be the first black man in the United States who was licensed to practice law. Born Allen Macon Bolling in 1816 in Indiana, he grew up a free man. Bolling learned to read and write on his on his own and eventually landed his first a job as a schoolteacher where he further refined his skills.

In the early 1840s Bolling moved from Indiana to Portland, Maine. There he changed his name to Macon Bolling Allen and became friends with local anti-slavery leader General Samuel Fessenden, who had recently began a law practice. Fessenden took on Allen as an apprentice/law clerk. By 1844 Allen had acquired enough proficiency that Fessenden introduced him to the Portland District court and stated that he thought Allen should be able to practice as a lawyer. He was refused on the grounds that he was not a citizen, though according to Maine law anyone “of good moral character” could be admitted to the bar. He then decided to apply for admission by examination. After passing the exam and earning his recommendation he was declared a citizen of Maine and given his license to practice law on July 3, 1844.

Finding work in Maine, however, was difficult. There were few blacks there willing and able to hire Allen and most whites were unwilling to have a black man represent them in court. In 1845 Allen moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he met his wife Hannah Allen. They had five sons together, most of whom became teachers.

Allen passed the Massachusetts Bar Exam on May 5, 1845. Shortly afterwards he and Robert Morris, Jr., opened the first black law office in the United States. Allen soon set his sights even higher; in 1848 he passed another rigorous exam to become Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. In addition to his license to practice law he is believed to be the first black man to hold a judiciary position.

Allen moved to Charleston, South Carolina after the Civil War to open a new legal practice. In 1873 he was appointed as a judge in the Inferior Court of Charleston and one year later was elected judge probate for Charleston County, South Carolina.

After Reconstruction, Allen moved again, this time to Washington, D.C. where he worked as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association. He continued to practice law right until his death at age 78. Macon Bolling Allen was survived by his wife and one son, Arthur Allen.
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/allen-macon-bolling-1816-1894

 

[Deadpool1986]

9 Facts About Macon Bolling Allen

1. Macon Bolling Allen was born a free man in Indiana in 1816. His birth name was Allen Macon Bolling. Allen changed his name when he moved to Portland, Maine from Indiana.

2. Macon Allen primarily taught himself how to read and write and was employed as a school teacher before becoming an attorney.

3. He learned about law by serving as an apprentice to General Fessenden. General Samuel Fessenden was a white local anti-slavery leader and an attorney. General Samuel Fessenden was also the individual responsible for recommending Macon to the Bar and requesting that he be allowed to practice law in the state of Maine.


A letter from Macon B. Allen when he was a Judge in Charleston, SC

4. Macon was admitted to the bar in Portland, Maine after examination. He actually had to be passed by examination even though at the time anyone of good moral character could be admitted to the bar in Maine. Macon was denied due to the fact that he wasn’t a citizen. However, on July 3, 1844, after paying $20.00 to the Treasury of Maine, he became a citizen and received his license to practice law after passing the exam.

5. Macon Bolling passed two bar examinations. One in the State of Maine and one in the State of Massachusetts. He also served as a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts after passing that difficult examination and a judge of the Inferior Court and Judge Probate in Charleston, South Carolina. He is believed to have been the first African American to sit in a judiciary position as well as being the first licensed African American attorney.

6. Macon married his wife Hannah in Boston, Massachusetts and had five children. All of his children were school teachers. Their names were John, Charles, Edward, Arthur and Macon B. Allen, Jr.

7. Macon B. Allen was also a partner in the first Black law firm. This law firm was established in Charleston, SC in 1868. His partners were William J. Whipper and Robert Brown Elliot. The firm was located at 91 Broad Street.

8. Macon B. Allen made his transition on October 10, 1894 after 50 years of legal service. He was memoralized at Saint Mark’s Protestant Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and interred in the Friendly Union Cemetery.

9. The National Bar Association honored Macon Bolling Allen for 50 years of legal service. The New York Bar Association is actually named after him in his honor. There is also a Civil Rights clinic in Boston named in his honor.

 

[61 Corpses]

@Deadpool1986 i'm glad you decided not to retire from JBO

 

[Deadpool1986]

@Deadpool1986 i'm glad you decided not to retire from JBO

I'm trying, but it keeps calling me back!!!

 

[Deadpool1986]

Jupiter Hammon

Jupiter Hammon (October 17, 1711 – before 1806) was a black poet who in 1761 became the first African-American writer to be published in the present-day United States. Additional poems and sermons were also published. Born into slavery, Hammon was never emancipated. He was living in 1790 at the age of 79, and died by 1806. A devout Christian, he is considered one of the founders of African-American literature.

Hammon was born a slave and was owned by four generations of the Lloyd family of Queens on Long Island, New York. His parents were both slaves. His father, called Opium, had a reputation for frequent escape attempts; his mother was named Rose. Hammon was allowed to attend school, and unlike most slaves could read and write.

On September 24, 1786, He expressed his views on slavery when he delivered his "Address to the Negroes of the State of New York", also known as the "Hammon Address", before the African Society. Hammon wrote the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery. It contains his famous words, "If we should ever get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for being black, or for being slaves."

The speech draws heavily on Christian motifs and theology. For example, Hammon said that Black people should maintain their high moral standards precisely because being slaves on Earth had already secured their place in heaven. Hammon's speech also promoted the idea of a gradual emancipation as a way of ending slavery. It is thought that Hammon stated this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched in American society that an immediate emancipation of all slaves would be difficult to achieve. His speech was initially published by the New York Quakers, and was later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery, including the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, because the strong religious motifs and ideas of gradual emancipation were moderate enough to be taken seriously by whites, but still firmly rooted in abolition.

Hammon's famous speech and his poetry are often anthologized. The first known African American to publish literature in the US (several years later in 1767, Phillis Wheatley had published her poems, but in England, not the US), Hammon was a favorite servant, clerk, farmhand, and artisan in the Lloyd family business. Hammon was allowed to attend school and was a fervent Christian, as were the Lloyds. His first published poem was written on Christmas Day, 1760. "An Evening Thought. Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries: Composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro belonging to Mr. Lloyd of Queen's Village, on Long Island, the 25th of December, 1760" appeared as a broadside in 1761. Three other poems and three sermon essays followed. In Hammon's "Address to the Negroes of New York, to the African Society," he said that while he personally had no wish to be free, he did wish others, especially “the young Negroes, were free.”
http://www.poemhunter.com/jupiter-hammon/biography/

 

[Deadpool1986]

A Dialogue, in-titled, The Kind Master And The Dutiful Servant
Master.
Come my servant, follow me,
According to thy place;
And surely God will be with thee,
And send the heav'nly grace.

Servant.
Dear Master, I will follow thee,
According to thy word,
And pray that God may be with me,
And save thee in the Lord.

Master.
My Servant, lovely is the Lord,
And blest those servants be,
That truly love his holy word,
And thus will follow me.

Servant.
Dear Master, that's my whole delight,
Thy pleasure for to do;
As far as grace and truth's in sight,
Thus far I'll surely go.

Master.
My Servant, grace proceeds from God,
And truth should be with thee;
Whence e'er you find it in his word,
Thus far come follow me.

Servant,
Dear Master, now without controul,
I quickly follow thee;
And pray that God would bless thy soul,
His heav'nly place to see.

Master.
My Servant, Heaven is high above,
Yea, higher than the sky:
I pray that God would grant his love,
Come follow me thereby.

Servant.
Dear Master, now I'll follow thee,
And trust upon the Lord;
The only safety that I see,
Is Jesus's holy word.

Master.
My Servant, follow Jesus now,
Our great victorious King;
Who governs all both high and low,
And searches things within.

Servant.
Dear Master I will follow thee,
When praying to our King;
It is the Lamb I plainly see,
Invites the sinner in.

Master.
My Servant, we are sinners all,
But follow after grace;
I pray that God would bless thy soul,
And fill thy heart with grace.

Servant.
Dear Master I shall follow then,
The voice of my great King;
As standing on some distant land,
Inviting sinners in.

Master.
My Servant we must all appear,
And follow then our King;
For sure he'll stand where sinners are,
To take true converts in.

Servant.
Dear Master, now if Jesus calls,
And sends his summons in;
We'll follow saints and angels all,
And come unto our King.

Master.
My Servant now come pray to God
Consider well his call;
Strive to obey his holy word,
That Christ may love us all

A Line on the present War.

Servant.
Dear Master, now it is a time,
A time of great distress;
We'll follow after things divine,
And pray for happiness.

Master.
Then will the happy day appear,
That virtue shall increase;
Lay up the sword and drop the spear,
And nations seek for peace.

Servant.
Then shall we see the happy end,
Tho' still in some distress;
That distant foes shall act like friends,
And leave their wickedness.

Master.
We pray that God would give us grace,
And make us humble too;
Let ev'ry nation seek for peace,
And virtue make a show.

Servant.
Then we shall see the happy day,
That virtue is in power;
Each holy act shall have its sway,
Extend from shore to shore.

Master.
This is the work of God's own hand,
We see by precepts given;
To relieve distress and save the land,
Must be the pow'r of heav'n.

Servant.
Now glory be unto our God,
Let ev'ry nation sing;
Strive to obey his holy word,
That Christ may take them in.

Master.
Where endless joys shall never cease,
Blest Angels constant sing;
The glory of their God increase,
Hallelujahs to their King.

Servant.
Thus the Dialogue shall end,
Strive to obey the word;
When ev'ry nation act like friends,
Shall be the sons of God.

Believe me now my Christian friends,
Believe your friend call'd HAMMON:
You cannot to your God attend,
And serve the God of Mammon.

If God is pleased by his own hand
To relieve distresses here;
And grant a peace throughout the the land,
'Twill be a happy year.

'Tis God alone can give us peace;
It's not the pow'r of man:
When virtuous pow'r shall increase,
'Twill beautify the land.

Then shall we rejoice and sing
By pow'r of virtues word,
Come sweet Jesus, heav'nly King,
Thou art the Son of God.

When virtue comes in bright array,
Discovers ev'ry sin;
We see the dangers of the day,
And fly unto our King.

Now glory be unto our God,
All praise be justly given;
Let ev'ry soul obey his word,
And seek the joys of Heav'n.

Jupiter Hammon

 

[Deadpool1986]

The Black James Bond!!!
James Wormley Jones

James Wormley Jones (September 22, 1884 – December 11, 1958) was an African-American policeman, World War I veteran, and FBI agent. Jones is most widely known for being the first African-American FBI special agent.

Military exploits
In 1917 Jones joined the United States Army. He was trained as an officer at the Officer's Training School in Des Moines, Iowa. Once his training was complete he was given a commission as a captain. He was assigned to the 368th Infantry in command of company F.

After his company was sent to France in 1918, he saw action in the Vosges Mountains, Argonne Sector, and the Metz front. "Neither can I individualize respecting the magnificent valor of the men of the company led by Captain Jones in this engagement, which Secretary Baker himself praised. When the awful bombardment died away, just as the gray streaks of early dawn pierced the night's blackness, which was made grayer by a thick heavy fog, the Captain ordered a charge 'over the top' with fixed bayonets; through the treacherous fog and into no-man-knew-what or seemed to care. The first wave, or detachment, went over with a cheer---a triumphant cheer---and the second wave followed their comrades with a dash. It may, perhaps, be best to let these boys and officers tell with their own lips of the terrific, murderous shell, shrapnel, gas, and machine-gun fire which baptized them, only to make them the more hardened and intrepid warriors; of how they contended every inch; fought with marvelous valor, never for an instant faltering. Trench after trench of the enemy was entered and conquered; dugout after dugout was successfully grenaded and made safe for the boys to follow; wires were cut and communicating trenches explored; machine-gun nests were raided and silenced, and still the boys fought their way on. Of course, as a natural sequence to such a daring raid, there were casualties, but the black soldiers, heroes as they were, never flinched at death, and the wounded were too proud of their achievements even to murmur because of the pain they endured. Captain Jones and his men took over a mile of land and trenches which for four years had been held by the Germans. The newspapers have given due and proper credit to the Americans for this daring raid, but the world has not been informed that it was the colored soldiers of America, under Captain J. Wormley Jones, a former Washington, D. C.,. policeman, who made the charge that was as daring, and more successful, than the Tennyson-embalmed charge of 'The Light Brigade.' "

During that time he became an instructor with the 92nd Division School of Specialists. His work there resulted in his being promoted to senior instructor. With the war's end in 1918 he resigned his post and resumed his work at the Metropolitan Police.

FBI and Marcus Garvey
Jones was appointed as the first African-American special agent on November 19, 1919 by Bureau of Investigation director A. Bruce Bielaski. Jones was assigned to a new section of the Justice Department created to track the activities of groups perceived as subversive. His work there was under the direct supervision of J. Edgar Hoover.

During his time in the FBI, Jones served in New York and Pittsburgh. In New York he was assigned to infiltrate the Universal Negro Improvement Association under the leadership of Marcus Garvey. Although he was seeking evidence of subversive activities during the "Red Scare" of 1919, Jones' work led to the arrest and trial of Garvey on mail fraud charges.

While conducting his surveillance, Jones adopted the code number 800 for his reports, and was also known as agent "800".[1] He apparently knew that his clandestine role was not well concealed. During a March 1920 speech at the UNIA Liberty Hall he took special pains to point out to the audience that he was indeed of African ancestry, although he had the appearance of a person of Caucasian or European ancestry. Nevertheless, he engendered the trust of the UNIA leadership to such an extent that he was able to gain responsibility for registering all incoming correspondence. His access to UNIA correspondence along with his position as Adjutant General in the African Legion where essential in enabling his information gathering activities.

In August 1921 Jones began conducting similar surveillance on the African Blood Brotherhood. Eventually being recognized as a former DC police officer, Jones was no longer an asset as a clandestine agent and he resigned from the Bureau on April 14, 1923.

Jones died December 11, 1958 in Dormont, Pennsylvania.
References
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/february/history_021511
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wormley_Jones

• The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide - Page 335 by Athan G. Theoharis - 1998 - 409 pages.
• The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: 1826-August 1919 By Robert A. Hill, Marcus Garvey, Universal Negro Improvement Association.
• Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement Mitchel P. Roth.
• Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War By Emmett J. Scott, AM., LL.D.

 

[Deadpool1986]

William Wells Brown

William Wells Brown, an escaped slave, published his popular autobiography Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave in 1847. His only novel, Clotel (1853), tells the story of the daughters and granddaughters of President Thomas Jefferson and his slave Currer. Brown's historical writings include The Black Man, The Negro in the American Rebellion, and The Rising Son.
Early Life

Brown was born on a plantation in Kentucky around 1814. His mother was a slave and his father was a white planter named George Higgins. Most of Brown's early life was spent working as a slave in St. Louis. However, Brown escaped from slavery in 1834 when he left his owner's docked steamboat in Cincinnati.

Life as a Free Man

Brown took the last name of a white Quaker family, Wells Brown, to show gratitude for the help they offered him as a runaway slave. Settling in Cleveland, Brown married Elizabeth Schooner, a free African-American woman and the couple had two daughters.

In 1836, Brown moved his family to Buffalo where he found work on Lake Erie as a steamboat man. It was during this time that Brown became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, assisting runaway slaves by transporting them to Detroit, various parts of upstate New York and Canada.

Brown also became heavily involved in the abolition movement by participating in activities sponsored by several anti-slavery societies. By 1843, Brown was working with the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society and speaking to groups about his life as a slave. Brown also joined the Negro Convention Movement, but remained a strong believer in moral suasion philosophy as the best way to fight against enslavement.

In 1847, Brown published Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself. As a result of the narrative's success, Brown began touring on the lecture circuit, traveling throughout northern states and Europe. However, with the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, Brown was forced to spend the next five years living in England and lecturing throughout Europe. While living abroad, Brown received acclaim for his abilities as a speaker and writer. The Scotch Independent reported that Brown was a "vigorous expositor of the evils and atrocities of that system whose chains he has shaken off so triumphantly and forever. We may safely pronounce William Wells Brown a remarkable man, and a full refutation of the doctrine of the inferiority of the negro."

Brown continued to develop his career as a writer and orator while living in Europe. In 1853, he published his first novel, Clotel, or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States. Clotel, which followed the life of a mixed-raced slave working in the home of Thomas Jefferson, is considered the first novel published by an African-American. Brown and his family were only able to return to the United States after the Richardson, a prominent British family, purchased his freedom.

Returning to the United States, Brown rejoined the lecture circuit and and continued to develop his craft as a writer.

Brown became the first published African-American playwright with Experience; or, How to Give a Northern Man a Backbone (1865) and The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom in 1858.

In addition to writing fiction, Brown also became a historian, writing texts such as The Black Man: HIs Antecedents, His Genius and His Achievements, in 1863; The Negro in the American Rebellion, in 1867; and The Rising Son, 1873.

In 1880, Brown published his last memoir, My Southern Home and resided in Boston.

Death

Brown died at the age of 70 in a town outside of Boston.
http://www.biography.com/people/william-wells-brown-9228841
http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/William-Wells-Brown.htm

 

[Deadpool1986]

Little Known Black History Fact: Early Brown-Skinned African Europeans

Scientists have recovered the first genome from the skeleton of a 7,000-year-old European hunter-gatherer. The discovery comes from a human skeleton found in 2006 in the La Braña-Arintero cave complex in northwest Leon, Spain. What the scientists have found is that the man, who was from the Mesolithic period between 5-10,000 years ago, was European with genes that are characteristic of African descent, but also had the genetics of a blue eyed-European. After analysis of ‘La Brana 1’, the man was of a rare genetic profile, likely proving that early humans had a combination of heritage, blue eyes and dark brown skin. The skeleton of ‘La Braña 1′ are the oldest human remains found to date.

From the condition of the man’s bones, he ate a low-starch diet and was lactose intolerant. The information was discovered from the DNA of the man’s tooth. The scientists will be able to make more conclusive results about the overall genetic makeup of early humans of the Mesolithic period once the bones of a second skeleton, ‘La Braña 2′, from the same cave are analyzed. The remains of ‘La Braña 1′ were able to be analyzed using complete mitochondrial DNA.
Researchers believe that the remains of both skeletons are not of those related to the inhabitants that reside in present-day Leon.

Prior to the findings of the skeletons in the cave in Spain, the oldest human DNA belonged to Otzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy found in the Alps in 1991.
http://blackamericaweb.com/2014/01/...y-fact-early-brown-skinned-african-europeans/

 

[Deadpool1986]

Black History Fact Of The Day!!!
February 1 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, was adopted by the 38th Congress. Ratification was completed December 6, 1865. Also in 1870, Jonathan Jasper Wright was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court.