While there should never be a time when the history of black Americans should be ignored or downplayed, Black History Month is set aside as a time to place extra emphasis on the incredible and important contributions black Americans have made to society, culture, and history, despite the systems of racism and oppression attempting to hold them back. Figures like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks are regularly and widely celebrated during the month of February, and with good reason. However, there are so many members of the black community who deserve recognition and remembrance this month who usually do not receive their due. Here are five historically significant black Americans who deserve to be remembered and celebrated during Black History Month.
1. Elizabeth Freeman (1742-1829)
Freeman was one of the first slaves in Massachusetts to sue for and win her freedom. Born into slavery, she was sold to the Ashley family in her teens and shortly after, married and had a child. She underwent harsh treatment and abuse at the hands of the Ashleys, including having to use herself as a shield to prevent her daughter from being beaten with a heated shovel. Shortly after the Revolutionary War, Freeman heard the Constitution being read aloud in the Ashley home and was struck by the First Amendment’s statement that all men are born free and equal with unalienable rights. Recognizing the legal implications of these words, she sought a lawyer who would argue for her freedom. In 1781, she pled her case, and the jury ruled in her favor, making her the first African American woman to be set free under the Massachusetts constitution. Freeman’s case set the precedent for ending slavery in Massachusetts. (Elizabethfreemancenter.org)
Prince was an 18th century orator and is the earliest known African American poet. Born in West Africa, she was captured and brought to America in the early 18th century to be a slave in Massachusetts. It was with the Wells family that she learned to read and in 1746, she wrote “Bars Fight,” the earliest recorded instance of African American poetry. In 1756, Prince married an emancipated black man named Abijah Prince, and the pair moved to Vermont and had six children. Prince is known to have spoken in several court cases where witnesses say her eloquence surpassed that of the lawyers and is said to have spoken for three hours arguing for her son’s admittance to Williams College. Her command of the English language was notable and powerful, and she can be accredited with helping to lay the foundation for the rich culture of African American poetry and literature. (biography.com)
3. Henry Highland Garnet (1818-1882)
Born a slave, Garnet escaped to New York with his family when he was still a child. In New York City, Garnet attended school to study English and Science and spent some time working aboard ships. By 1840, he completed his education at the Oneda Institution and eventually became a Presbyterian Minister. Garnet was an active orator and abolitionist, working with figures such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. In 1843, he delivered his famous “Call to Rebellion” speech, encouraging slaves to take their own freedom, an extremely radical notion at the time. The convention at which he was speaking refused to endorse his message. Garnet traveled a great deal to speak out against the practice of slavery and became a target during the Civil War. In 1865, President Lincoln asked him to speak before the House of Representatives, making him the first black man to do so. Garnet died in Liberia in 1882, where President Garfield had appointed him to serve as Minister and General Counsel.
4. Matthew Henson (1866-1955)
Henson was an explorer best known for co-discovering the North Pole with Robert Edwin Peary in 1909. Henson was born to two freeborn black sharecroppers, but his parents died when he was young, leaving him as an orphan in the care of other family members. He eventually found work as a cabin boy on a ship whose skipper, Captain Childs, took Henson on as a mentee. When Childs died, Henson moved to Washington, D.C. where he met Peary. With Henson as his valet, Peary took repeated voyages to Greenland. Henson took a particular interest in Inuit culture, learning their ways of arctic survival and their language during his first expedition. After several disastrous attempts to reach the North Pole, Peary and Henson made it in 1909. Peary said of Henson during the voyage, “Henson must go all the way. I can’t make it there without him.” Upon their return home, Peary was met with many awards and accolades. Henson was largely ignored. In a time where African Americans couldn’t choose where to live, where to go to school and were treated as second-class citizens in every respect, Henson went further and discovered more than anyone before him. (biography.com)
5. Ida B. Wells (1862-1931)
Wells was an activist and journalist who spearheaded an anti-lynching campaign in the 1890s. Born to slaves but freed within six months of her birth by the Emancipation Proclamation, Wells lived her early life amid the fierce racism of 19th century Mississippi. At age 16, when both her parents died in a Yellow Fever outbreak, she was left to care for her siblings. She lied about her age to get a teaching job and eventually moved to live with family in Tennessee, where she attended Fisk University. After experiencing a particularly demeaning encounter in a train car, Wells turned to journalism to write about the injustices faced by African Americans in the United States. Her extreme outspokenness led her lose more than one job. In 1892, she began a crusade against lynchings when a lynch mob murdered some local business owners. Wells gave lectures, led protests, and wrote and circulated pamphlets. She formed the National Association of Colored Women, was an early supporter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and fought for equal rights for women with the National Equal Rights League. She fought for women’s suffrage and even ran for state senate in 1930. She died a year later, leaving in her wake an impressive legacy of political involvement and advocacy for both women and people of color.
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Images courtesy of Pinterest, National Women’s History Museum, Biography.com, kentakepage.com, Elizabeth Freeman Center.