Author: friend1

Emily Willson, a close friend to Amy Cassey, was born in Philadelphia around 1811. She was the sister of Joseph Willson, author of The Elite of Our People, an 1841 study of the wealthy African Americans of Philadelphia. Her mother

Born in 1818 in Massachusetts, Lucy Stone was a white abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights and suffrage. Stone was raised by abolitionist Congregationalists who, despite their progressive views, did not want her to pursue a college degree. She broke

James McCune Smith was the first African American to hold a medical degree. Born in 1813, in New York City, Smith attended the city’s African Free School in New York. After being denied admission to several American colleges due to

Amy Matilda Cassey’s second husband, Charles Lenox Remond, was born in 1810 in Salem, Massachusetts, to John and Nancy Remond. His father was a black immigrant from Curacao who became a barber and then a caterer with the help of

Born in 1818, Patrick Henry Reason was the son of West Indies immigrants Michiel and Elizabeth Reason and older brother to Charles Lewis Reason. Reason attended the New York African Free School with his brother Charles. . He became an

Charles Lewis Reason, a mathematician, linguist, and educator, was born in New York City in 1818 to West Indies immigrants Michiel and Elizabeth Reason. Reason, as well as his brothers Patrick and Elmer, attended the New York African Free School.

Sarah Louisa Forten, the daughter of James Forten and Charlotte Vandine Forten, was born around 1811. Sarah, like the rest of her family, was extensively involved in activist movements. Using the pseudonyms Ada and Magawisca, she began writing poems for

Robert Purvis was born in 1810 Charleston, South Carolina, to William Purvis, a white English immigrant, and to Harriet Judah, a free woman of color. He moved to Philadelphia with his father and his brothers William and Joseph in 1819,

William Cooper Nell is often regarded as the first scholar of African American history. He was born in 1816 in Boston to activist parents. He joined the abolitionist movement at a young age. In the 1830s, he joined of the