Peter H. (Humphries) Clark was born on March 29, 1829. He died June 21, 1925, but during his time he was very important. He was one of Ohio’s most effective black abolitionist writers and speakers. His father Michael Clark was a freed slave and barber. His mother was the mulatto daughter of an indentured servant from Ireland. Clark had a very big impact on black public schools which was what made him so famous.
After his father died in 1849, he ran the barber shop for a while but he quit because he hated serving white costumers. Later that same year John I. Gaines, "colored" schools were founded by the Ohio legislature. This when was Clark became the first teacher for Cincinnati black public schools in 1849. In 1853 he was fired by the white Board of Education for publicly advocating the political and religious thought of Thomas Paine. African Americans almost objected unanimously to him being fired. Not only was he a teacher but also a principal and founder for Ohio’s first public high school for black students in 1866.
During the next four years he focused on being a writer, speaker, editor, and publisher. He Participated in Ohio Conventions of Colored Men just like his uncle, and he edited and published his own weekly abolitionist paper, the Herald of Freedom. The paper didn’t stay in business for long though, it only lasted for 4 months. After that, he became the secretary of the 1853 National Convention of Colored Men, and in 1854 he married Francis Ann Williams. In 1856 he moved to Rochester, NY to become the assistant of Frederick Douglass. While he was there he helped him on Frederick Douglass' Paper (which used to be called the North Star). In 1857 the black trustees of the colored schools rehired him and he became principal of the Western District School in Cincinnati. Although he kept going on with his abolitionist activities, he was still close with Douglass until he died in 1895. After Douglass died, education was his major focus.
When Clark moved back to to Cincinnati in 1857, he became part of the new Republican Party. The local Republicans were led by Alphonso Taft and George Hoadly. Both men were important attorneys and abolitionists who were apart of First Congregational Church of Cincinnati. The minister of the Unitarian Church was Moncure D. Conway, and his preaches were inspirational to Clark.
In the end, Frederick Douglass was a very successful and smart African American. Infact of him being a slave back then. Most slaves couldn’t receive education due to slavery and racism.
After the war he befriended with Ulysses S. Grant and joined the Republican party. He was criticized by former confederates for losing the war and befriending with Grant and the Republican party. He served as Grants minister to Turkey. He also became a political apostate in the south. Later he served as a commissioner of the Pacific Railroads from eighteen ninety seven to nineteen o four. In the summer of nineteen o four he became very ill and was diagnosed with Rheumatism. His ear was also damaged and was forced to use an ear horn when spoken to. He traveled to Chicago for a cancerous right eye, his weight dropped from two hundred pounds to one hundred thirty five pounds.
Even though Lincoln only wanted to contain slavery the Union and prevent it from expanding, Douglass decided to support the Union considering it was the lesser evil of the parties. As a supporter of the Union, he was able to convince Lincoln to allow African-Americans, slave and free, to fight in the war and end slavery. After the civil war ended and the 13th amendment were ratified, slavery was abolished. However, Douglass did not stop once he saw that slavery was abolished. Even though black men and women were now free, they continued to suffer discrimination and oppression. Douglass continued to work for the rights of black men and women who suffered discrimination as the 14th and 15th amendments were ratified. After the war he had become one of the most prominent and respected black leaders. He moved to Washington D.C., and was appointed for different government positions such as marshal of Washington, D.C. and minister to Haiti. Through his influence in these positions he continued to work for the civil rights of the free men and women.
born in Topeka, Kansas, and was sometimes referred as the "the father of black American art."
During Frederick Douglass lifetime he had a big impact on the society, which still can be understood today by looking at how the society developed during his lifetime, and even after his death. The main significance that Douglass did was through his great oral skills, which he used both as a politician, and as a lecturer. Already when Douglass was thirty-three years old he was a part of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS). Up till 1847, which was, the year when he turned twenty-nine he was one of the most well known persons in the organization. (Fanuzzi, pg. 55) The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society was an organization that was started by William Lloyd Garrison, as can be understood through the name the organization was against slavery.
According to Max Hunter, (2011) "in 1954, Clark began teaching at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee where she developed her Citizenship Pedagogy" (para. 2). The pedagogy that Hunter referenced developed because of the racism, sexism, and discrimination that Clark experienced while teaching in the public school system in and around Charleston South Carolina. She along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) fought for black teachers to receive pay equal to their white counterparts ("AdultEducation," n.d.). She also fought and won the right for blacks to become principals in the Charleston school district (Wikipedia, 2011, para. 5). According to Lewis (2003), the school board fired Clark after teaching for 40 years, because she refused to give up her membership to the NAACP (Brief Portrait section, para. 4). She later, served as the first African American member on that same board (Sears, 2000, para. 19). All of these experiences shaped her work as an activist, feminist and advocate for civil rights.
Throughout history, as far back as one could remember, African- American men have been racially profiled and stereotyped by various individuals. It has been noted that simply because of their skin color, individuals within society begin to seem frightened when in their presence.In Black Men and Public Space, Brent Staples goes into elaborate detail regarding the stereotypical treatment he began to receive as a young man attending University of Chicago. He begins to explain incidents that took place numerous times in his life and assists the reader is seeing this hatred from his point of view. Staples further emphasizes the social injustices of people’s perception of African-American men to the audience that may have not necessarily experienced
Frederick Douglass was one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War. A brilliant speaker, Douglass was asked by the American Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures, and so became recognized as one of America's first great black speakers. He won world fame when his autobiography was publicized in 1845. Two years later he bagan publishing an antislavery paper called the North Star. Douglass served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and other civil liberties for blacks. Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still revered today for his contributions against racial injustice. The Slave Years Frederick Baily was born a slave in February 1818 on Holmes Hill Farm, near the town of Easton on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The farm was part of an estate owned by Aaron Anthony, who also managed the plantations of Edward Lloyd V, one of the wealthiest men in Maryland. The main Lloyd Plantation was near the eastern side of Chesapeake Bay, 12 miles from Holmes Hill Farm, in a home Anthony had built near the Lloyd mansion, was where Frederick's first master lived. Frederick's mother, Harriet Baily, worked the cornfields surrounding Holmes Hill. He knew little of his father except that the man was white. As a child, he had heard rumors that the master, Aaron Anthony, had sired him. Because Harriet Baily was required to work long hours in the fields, Frederick had been sent to live with his grandmother, Betsey Baily. Betsy Baily lived in a cabin a short distance from Holmes Hill Farm. Her job was to look after Harriet's children until they were old enough to work. Frederick's mother visited him when she could, but he had only a hazy memory of her. He spent his childhood playing in the woods near his grandmother's cabin. He did not think of himself as a slave during these years. Only gradually did Frederick learn about a person his grandmother would refer to as Old Master and when she spoke of Old Master it was with certain fear.
...rmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and his childhood hero, Martin Luther King Jr. Starting out with restaurant sit-ins, he continued to build up his reparatur. He joined the Freedom Riders, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, became chairman of the SNCC, talked at the March on Washington, and is one of the most powerful people in the Democratic party in the House of Representatives. John Lewis has become a legend for the work he did to secure the rights of all Americans.
Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass’ life work as an abolitionist, writer, and orator, arguably made him the most important and influential black American leader of the 19th century. In his book, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he recalls his life as a slave for various masters, and finally but briefly tells of his escape to New York where he would live as a free man and begin his fight and case against slavery.
African-Americans in the 1920’s lived in a period of tension. No longer slaves, they were still not looked upon as equals by whites. However, movements such as the Harlem renaissance, as well as several African-American leaders who rose to power during this period, sought to bring the race to new heights. One of these leaders was W.E.B. DuBois, who believed that education was the solution to the race problem. The beliefs of W.E.B. DuBois, as influenced by his background, had a profound effect on his life work, including the organizations he was involved with and the type of people he attracted. His background strongly influenced the way he attacked the "Negro Problem." His influence continues to affect many people.
To address the concerns of social justice, while Clark was in office, he helped develop the Board of Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Psychology in 1972 (Pickren, 2002). Though Dr. Kenneth Clark has contributed much more to the world of psychology, he most importantly opened up and investigated racism and the psychological effects it has on children and has helped change the face of education in the process.
The “ Father of Black History” as we know today, Dr. Carter G. Woodson was born on December 19, 1875 to James and Anne Eliza Woodson in New Canton, Virginia. Woodson was the first child of nine children of James and Anne Eliza who where newly freed slaves. Carter’s supported his family at a very young age by working in a coal mine. At the age of seventeen Carter and his family moved to Fayette, Virginia where he worked in a coal mine. Carter was allowed to attend school at Douglas High School part time where he successfully earned a high school diploma and graduated in approximately a year and a half in 1896. Carter then went on to attend Berea College in Kentucky.
Education has always been an important piece in my family’s legacy. My grandmother was one of the first African American women to have a school named after her, and the majority of my uncles, aunts, and cousins all work within the education field. Naturally, I decided to write about two influential educators that have greatly impacted my life.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most influential leader of the American Civil Rights Movement as he fought for the freedom of African Americans. King’s most influential speech is his “I Have a Dream” given on August 28, 1963.1 King himself was a man whom thousands of people admired. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an expressive tone in his speeches by using verbal powerful imagery toward his audience, reminding them of the challenges facing them and defeating racism. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired others to take action, lead by example, as shown in his speeches and promoted non-violence as a method for change.