DOCSLIB.ORG

Lehigh Preserve Institutional Repository

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lehigh Preserve Institutional Repository Lehigh Preserve Institutional Repository A Legacy Transformed: The Christiana Riot in Historical Memory Rice, Anthony 2012 Find more at https://preserve.lib.lehigh.edu/ This document is brought to you for free and open access by Lehigh Preserve. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of Lehigh Preserve. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Legacy Transformed: The Christiana Riot in Historical Memory by Anthony Rice A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate and Research Committee of Lehigh University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Lehigh University December 2012 Copyright Anthony Rice 2012 ii DISSERTATION SIGNATURE SHEET Approved and recommended for acceptance as a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________________________ Date _______________________ Roger Simon Dissertation Director __________________________ Accepted Date Committee Members: _______________________ Kim Carrell-Smith _______________________ Seth Moglen _______________________ William Scott iii Acknowledgements Research for this dissertation was referenced primarily from newspapers, the collections of the Lancaster County and Christiana Historical Societies, personal interviews, and various secondary sources. The three main repositories for this manuscript were Christiana’s Moore Memorial Library, the Christiana Historical Society, and the Lancaster Country Historical Society. The staffs and members of each institution were very patient and helpful to this author and for that I am very grateful. I thank those who consented to being interviewed for this paper; each of their opinions were much appreciated in enriching my research and in providing a personal touch that can sometimes be lost when writing history. I am also indebted to Professors Roger Simon, Kim Carrell-Smith, Seth Moglen, and Bill Scott for taking the time to review this work and offer suggestions. Their insights were pivotal in helping to shape this manuscript into something that I hope does justice to the Christiana Riot. Lastly, I thank God for giving me the strength to complete this project and my parents for their patience and continued support in putting up with me for all these years. How they do it I have no idea. iv Contents ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………..…………..1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….……….3 I: PRELUDE TO CONFLICT………………………………...…………………………21 II: A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES…………………………………………………….…..55 III: A HOUSE DIVIDED………………………………………………………….……..83 IV: A TREASONOUS SELF-DEFENSE………………………………………………112 V: RECONCILED BY COLOR………………………………………….…………….152 VI: COMMEMORATING A MYTH…………………………………………….…….202 VII: A TIME OF TRANSITION………………………………………….……………257 VIII: FROM RIOT TO RESISTANCE……………………………………...…………320 EPILOGUE……………………………………………….…………………………….387 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..…..397 CURRICULUM VITAE……………………………………………………………..…416 v A Legacy Transformed: The Christiana Riot in Historical Memory Abstract by Anthony Rice On the morning of September 11, 1851, a slaveholder laid dead at the hands of fugitive slaves outside a small Pennsylvanian farming community in Christiana, Lancaster County. This slave resistance to a southern posse shocked Americans, precipitated a show trial, and embarrassed locals who just wanted the story to disappear. But as years passed, history merged with memory to transform the Christiana Riot from an incident forgotten to one of continual reinterpretation in the historical and local community. This dissertation traces the legacy of the Christiana Riot and how its narrative changed over time in relation to historical memory, changing racial attitudes in the United States, and the influence of a new social history on issues of race. From 1851-2001 the Christiana Riot would come full circle as a result of the dynamic nature of memory between two distinct racial groups in Lancaster County. Throughout these years the Christiana Riot’s legacy would have as much to do with race as it did with history as black memory clashed with white sentimentality over the riot’s historical significance. During its three public commemorations in 1911, 1951, and 2001, the riot’s meaning was transformed to suit current political circumstances both locally and nationally. The 1911 ceremony was affected by Civil War memory and Jim Crow policies whereby whites became the heroes of the riot as African-Americans were pushed to the background. The 1 1951 commemoration mixed white courage with black agency during a transitional period in the riot’s historical memory that mirrored the civil rights movement then beginning in the country. In 2001, progressive racial attitudes mixed with a new social history sensitive to previously underrepresented groups to create a public celebration of the riot focused on black historical contributions and self-emancipation. The transformation of the Christiana Riot’s legacy revealed the adaptive power of memory and its fluid relationship with what we consider important in history. This continual struggle between fact and fiction became as central to the riot story as it is to our personal understanding of the past—a past filled with Christiana Riots and unearthing the truth behind the memory. 2 Introduction On February 15, 1851, Frederick Jenkins could only reminisce about the freedom he so briefly enjoyed before his capture as a fugitive slave. Finding himself in the defendant’s chair of a Boston court was not the fate he envisioned during his escape from Virginia nine months earlier. As the judge ordered a continuance of the trial, all hope appeared lost for the accused man known as Shadrach. Suddenly, the courtroom doors burst open and a large crowd of black men pushed their way to the side of Jenkins. With a simple nod of agreement, the fugitive was lifted from his seat and rushed from the courthouse by his racial brethren. Disappearing into the city, Jenkins would eventually reach the safety of Canada where United States law could no longer touch him. Eight men were later arrested and tried for the Shadrach rescue, but each was found innocent of the charges. The failure to achieve a single conviction made this first major test of the newly minted Fugitive Slave Act a bitter disappointment to southern sensibilities. Prompted by fears of sectional discord, President Millard Fillmore condemned the rescue and exhorted citizens to respect the law for sake of the Union. Although the President’s overtures achieved a peaceful interlude, it was merely an ephemeral pause as the issue of slavery sparked another resistance seven months later. This time the national spotlight did not shine upon another metropole the likes of Boston. Instead, it focused upon a violent clash that erupted two miles outside a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, when a group of fugitive slaves clashed with a southern posse resulting in the death of a slaveholder. The riot occurred on the outskirts of Christiana on September 11, 1851, effectively making it the second test of the controversial fugitive slave law. 3 Although occurring in a central Pennsylvanian farming community roughly fifty miles west of Philadelphia and twenty miles north of the Maryland border, the incident inflamed nationwide controversy by ending in bloodshed that resulted in the largest number of individuals being charged with treason at one time in American history.1 The Christiana Riot and its aftermath was such a blow to southern sentiments of pride and justice that Lancaster Countians soon found themselves inexorably linked with a series of events that ultimately plunged America into Civil War a decade later. This study traces the historical memory of the Christiana Riot from its controversial beginning in a Pennsylvania field to its celebration in 2001. Over the course of those 150 years, the riot underwent a dramatic reappraisal in the memories of Lancaster County residents as reflected through its public commemorations in 1911, 1951, and 2001. Initially perceived locally as an incident best forgotten, the riot was transformed into a symbol of sectional reconciliation in 1911, a cautionary tale of legal defiance and racial inequality forty years later, and a triumphant example of black agency in 2001. Each commemoration was shaped by mainstream historical and societal trends regarding race, Civil War memory, African-American history, the civil rights movement, and social history. That the riot celebrations each presented different themes was no accident. As American society transformed, so too did the riot’s historical memory in accordance with that transformation. What was for many years a contentious memory between black and white over the riot and its meaning slowly aligned itself into one of racial consensus over 1 Stanley W. Campbell, The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850-1860 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1970), pp. 148-151; “‘He Died For Law,’ in Christiana Riot,” Baltimore Sun, September 11, 1955; Jonathan Katz, Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851, A Documentary Account (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1974), p. 4. 4 a century later. How and why this historical understanding occurred composes the bulk of this study, illustrating a Christiana Riot legacy shaped more by public memory than historical fact. Previous studies by David Blight and others have rightly argued the fluidity of historical memory over time and its relationship
Load more

Recommended publications
  • African American Literature in Transition, 1850–1865
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-42748-7 — African American Literature in Transition Edited by Teresa Zackodnik Frontmatter More Information AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE IN TRANSITION, – The period of – consists of violent struggle and crisis as the United States underwent the prodigious transition from slaveholding to ostensibly “free” nation. This volume reframes mid-century African American literature and challenges our current understand- ings of both African American and American literature. It presents a fluid tradition that includes history, science, politics, economics, space and movement, the visual, and the sonic. Black writing was highly conscious of transnational and international politics, textual circulation, and revolutionary imaginaries. Chapters explore how Black literature was being produced and circulated; how and why it marked its relation to other literary and expressive traditions; what geopolitical imaginaries it facilitated through representation; and what technologies, including print, enabled African Americans to pursue such a complex and ongoing aesthetic and political project. is a Professor in the English and Film Studies Department at the University of Alberta, where she teaches critical race theory, African American literature and theory, and historical Black feminisms. Her books include The Mulatta and the Politics of Race (); Press, Platform, Pulpit: Black Feminisms in the Era of Reform (); the six-volume edition African American Feminisms – in the Routledge History of Feminisms series (); and “We Must be Up and Doing”: A Reader in Early African American Feminisms (). She is a member of the UK-based international research network Black Female Intellectuals in the Historical and Contemporary Context, and is completing a book on early Black feminist use of media and its forms.
    [Show full text]
  • Index to Black Horse Cavalry Defend Our Beloved Country, by Lewis Marshall Helm
    Index to Black Horse Cavalry Defend Our Beloved Country, by Lewis Marshall Helm http://innopac.fauquiercounty.gov/record=b1117236 Index courtesy of Fauquier County Public Library (http://fauquierlibrary.org) Name Subject Page Abel, Charles T. a prisoner dies of illness 225 Abel, Charles T. BH brief biography / service record 263 Abel, George W. enlists with BH 67 Abel, George W. was captured and sent to Old Capitol Prison 140 Abel, George W. BH brief biography / service record 263 Abell, Charles T. Gerardis captured Alexander in Culpeper sold it to Gen. 172 Abingdon Washington 15 Accotink Run BH engages Union troops 62 Payne memo, speculates on Jackson had Achilles he lived in the past 301 Adams (Mr.) Turner diary mentions 100 see also Slaves and Negros (terms were African Americans indexed as they appeared in the text) African-Americans Mosby blamed for support of 248 home state of Private Wilburn relative of Alabama Robert Smith 245 Albemarle Cavalry diarist describes 41 Albemarle County Union sends in cavalry raids 192 Aldie Turner describes Union advance toward 145 Aldie Stuart's cavalry fights around 164 Aldie road "guide" claims Jackson is moving along 116 sold Alexander home, Abingdon, to Gen. Alexander, Gerard Washington 15 family settled along banks of Potomac in Alexander, John IV 1659 15 Alexander, Mark hijinks w/William Payne 3 Alexandria is being bombarded, topic of chapter 14, 15 Alexandria Artillery is formed and attracts volunteers 15 Alexandria Light Artillery fires first round 30 Alexandria Light Artillery takes out Cub Run bridge 35 Alexandria Pike BH does picket duty along 13 Alexandria Railroad trains are commandeered 19 Alexandria Rifles Alexander Hunter is transferred to BH 160 Alexandria Sentinel issues call to arms 15 Alexandria Turnpike its importance is noted 4 Alexandria Turnpike Jackson to arrive at 104 Alexandria Turnpike section from Waterloo to Amissville 153 Name Subject Page Allen (Col.) Payne memo, recalls attack let by 298 Alrich Union moves toward Richmond from 200 Alston, Harold exchanged from Ft.
    [Show full text]
  • If You Build a Beer Tent, Students Will Come Life Without ED Women of Color
    THURSDAY INSIDE MARCH 3, 2011 Gospel Choir’s Annual News..........1-3 Cultural Celebration Opinions......4-6 LIFESTYLES PG 7 Lifestyles..7-9 INDEX Is your professor worth your Sports.....10-12 time and money? Vol. LXXXVIII No. 14 OPINIONS PG 4 State University of New York College at Cortland If You Build a Beer Tent, Students Will Come Students flock towards four years ago debuted their beer at the first Chill-A-Bration to the beer tent at the Chill- mixed reviews. Brands like Na- A-Bration festival ked Lap Lager, Firehouse Pale Ale, Red Dragon Ale and the Seven Valley Stout couldn’t be By Dan Harding Jr. poured into the cups of Cortland Editor-in-Chief students fast enough as many had to wait in line for 10 minutes to Nearly 100 yelling Cortland get a fresh beer. students drinking beer beneath “Our Naked Lap lager was a bright blue tarp as a DJ blared very popular among students party-themed music replaced the which is what we expected be- usually tranquil Court House cause they tend to drink Keystone Park where the occasional Cort- and Bud Light. Ours has more land resident can be found stroll- taste though,” laughed Cleary. ing about. Around the perimeter of the Chill-A-Bration is an an- tent, local restaurants and com- nual festival created for bringing munity members scooped their the community together despite prize-worthy chili into small Sty- the cold winter weather. With rofoam cups for patrons to sam- face painting, a snowboarding ple. Though many were glad to ramp, sled dogs, and a chili cook- have something warm to eat, they off, the festival aimed to provide felt the chili cook-off lost its fla- winter-themed fun for all demo- vor in the chaos of students trying graphics.
    [Show full text]
  • Class of 2003 Finals Program
    School of Law One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth FINAL EXERCISES The Lawn May 18, 2003 1 Distinction 2 High Distinction 3 Highest Distinction 4 Honors 5 High Honors 6 Highest Honors 7 Distinguished Majors Program School of Law Finals Speaker Mortimer M. Caplin Former Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Mortimer Caplin was born in New York in 1916. He came to Charlottesville in 1933, graduating from the College in 1937 and the Law School in 1940. During the Normandy invasion, he served as U.S. Navy beachmaster and was cited as a member of the initial landing force on Omaha Beach. He continued his federal service as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service under President Kennedy from 1961 to 1964. When he entered U.Va. at age 17, Mr. Caplin committed himself to all aspects of University life. From 1933-37, he was a star athlete in the University’s leading sport—boxing—achieving an undefeated record for three years in the mid-1930s and winning the NCAA middleweight title in spite of suffering a broken hand. He also served as coach of the boxing team and was president of the University Players drama group. At the School of Law, he was editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review and graduated as the top student in his class. In addition to his deep commitment to public service, he is well known for his devotion to teaching and to the educational process and to advancing tax law. Mr. Caplin taught tax law at U.Va. from 1950-61, while serving as president of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
    [Show full text]
  • Netflix and the Development of the Internet Television Network
    Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE May 2016 Netflix and the Development of the Internet Television Network Laura Osur Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Osur, Laura, "Netflix and the Development of the Internet Television Network" (2016). Dissertations - ALL. 448. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/448 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract When Netflix launched in April 1998, Internet video was in its infancy. Eighteen years later, Netflix has developed into the first truly global Internet TV network. Many books have been written about the five broadcast networks – NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the CW – and many about the major cable networks – HBO, CNN, MTV, Nickelodeon, just to name a few – and this is the fitting time to undertake a detailed analysis of how Netflix, as the preeminent Internet TV networks, has come to be. This book, then, combines historical, industrial, and textual analysis to investigate, contextualize, and historicize Netflix's development as an Internet TV network. The book is split into four chapters. The first explores the ways in which Netflix's development during its early years a DVD-by-mail company – 1998-2007, a period I am calling "Netflix as Rental Company" – lay the foundations for the company's future iterations and successes. During this period, Netflix adapted DVD distribution to the Internet, revolutionizing the way viewers receive, watch, and choose content, and built a brand reputation on consumer-centric innovation.
    [Show full text]
  • Vets Reunion Set for October Staff NANCY KENNEDY Beginning Sunday, Oct
    Instant classic: Rookie wins PGA in dramatic fashion /B1 MONDAY CITRUS COUNTY TODAY & Tuesday morning HIGH Partly cloudy with scat- 89 tered showers. Heat LOW index readings 101 to 71 PAGE A4 106. www.chronicleonline.com AUGUST 15, 2011 Florida’s Best Community Newspaper Serving Florida’s Best Community 50¢ VOLUME 117 ISSUE 8 INSIDE REGULAR FEATURE: New column Vets reunion set for October Staff NANCY KENNEDY Beginning Sunday, Oct. 2, Hollins property north of event features four sepa- the global war on terror. writer Nancy Staff Writer through Sunday, Oct. 9, all Crystal River. rate memorials: Vietnam “The purpose is to bring Ken - veterans, their family and Sponsored by the Ameri- Traveling Memorial Wall, veterans together and bring nedy Only another veteran un- friends and the public are can Legion Post 225 in Flo- Purple Heart Mural Memo- awareness to what veterans pens a derstands the rigors of mili- invited to the inaugural Na- ral City, with the Aaron rial, Korean War Memorial have done,” said Richard new tary life and the horrors of ture Coast All Veterans Re- Weaver Chapter 776 Order and The Moving Tribute, a col- war. union at the former Dixie of the Purple Heart, this list of all who have fallen in See REUNION/Page A9 umn, Stuff You Should Know./Page A3 PROPERTY NEWS: TRIM Notice Nuclear The Citrus County Property Appraiser’s Office issues annual tax plant notices./Page A2 United Way ENTERTAINMENT: fundraiser delays draws rankle dancers, fans Staff Report residents — CITRUS SPRINGS Associated Press he Citrus HBO show Springs ST.
    [Show full text]
  • IV. Fabric Summary 282 Copyrighted Material
    Eastern State Penitentiary HSR: IV. Fabric Summary 282 IV. FABRIC SUMMARY: CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATIONS, AND USES OF SPACE (for documentation, see Appendices A and B, by date, and C, by location) Jeffrey A. Cohen § A. Front Building (figs. C3.1 - C3.19) Work began in the 1823 building season, following the commencement of the perimeter walls and preceding that of the cellblocks. In August 1824 all the active stonecutters were employed cutting stones for the front building, though others were idled by a shortage of stone. Twenty-foot walls to the north were added in the 1826 season bounding the warden's yard and the keepers' yard. Construction of the center, the first three wings, the front building and the perimeter walls were largely complete when the building commissioners turned the building over to the Board of Inspectors in July 1829. The half of the building east of the gateway held the residential apartments of the warden. The west side initially had the kitchen, bakery, and other service functions in the basement, apartments for the keepers and a corner meeting room for the inspectors on the main floor, and infirmary rooms on the upper story. The latter were used at first, but in September 1831 the physician criticized their distant location and lack of effective separation, preferring that certain cells in each block be set aside for the sick. By the time Demetz and Blouet visited, about 1836, ill prisoners were separated rather than being placed in a common infirmary, and plans were afoot for a group of cells for the sick, with doors left ajar like others.
    [Show full text]
  • Reunification of Missing Children Training Manual
    If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. Introduction • Overview of Current Missing Child Problem Reunification Reunification Project • Team issues of • Purpose of Training Manual Missing Children Non-Family Abduction • Case Study G Research Training Manual Parental Abduction • Case Study • Research Runaways Center for the Study of Trauma • Case Study Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute • Research University of California 9! San Francisco Child Trauma Review f (0<] Treatment of Child Trauma 11.1 Reunification of Missing Children Research Results 177' , ~ ._ .. _,._ > •• _~ __• ___• _, • __.i .~ References AVERY ~~/~~ PROGRAM GOALS Each year in the United States, more than 4,500 children disappear as a result of stranger and • non-family abduction, more than 350,000 disappear as aresultoffamily abduction, and more than 750,000 disappear as a result of a runaway event (NISMART, 1990). While the majority of these children are recovered, the process of return and reunification has often been difficult and frustrating. Less than 10% of these children and their families receive any kind of assistance and guidance in the reunification process (Hatcher, Barton, and Brooks, 1989). Further, the average length of time between the parents' appearance to pick up their recovered child and their departure to go home is only 15 minutes (Hatcher, Barton, and Brooks, ibid.). Professionals involved with these families, including investigating law enforcement officers, mental health/social service professionals, and victim/witness personnel, have all recognized the need for: (1) a knowledge base about missing children and their families, (2) a clearer understanding of the missing! abduction event and its consequences to chHd and family, and (3) guidelines and training to develop a coordinated multi-agency approach to assisting these child victims and theirfamilies.
    [Show full text]
  • Made-In-Dagenham Script.Pdf
    'Dagenham Girls' (Working Title) 01/06/09 BLUE REVISIONS 24/06/09 By William Ivory Developed with the assistance of the UK Film Council, Intandem, Film4 and the Irish Film Board Number 9 Films (Slate) Ltd William Ivory Linton House C/o The Agency 24 Wells Street 24 Pottery Lane London, W1T 3PH London W11 4LZ Tel: 0207 323 4060 Tel: 020 7727 1346 © 2006 UK Film Council / Number 9 Films (Slate) Ltd. Keep On Running By The Spencer Davis Group, thunders over titles and- 1 EXT. ESTATE IN DAGENHAM - DAY 1 RITA O’GRADY and her husband EDDIE, both late twenties, step onto the balcony of a flat on a massive housing estate in East London. With them are their two children, GRAHAM and SHARON. They kiss the kids goodbye as another man, also in blue overalls, emerges from the flats, clambers onto a bike and sets off down the car-less streets. Rita and Eddie grab their own bikes, and ride off into an ever broadening stream of people. 2 EXT. ESTATE - DAY 2 On another part of the estate, a much younger woman, SANDRA, emerges from a flat, waves to her mum on a balcony above and hops onto her bike. She wobbles off, the white patent leather boots she is wearing make balance something of a challenge. 3 INT. ESTATE - DAY 3 Sandra filters in with the great tide of cyclists pouring from the Estate beneath the baking sun. We see them from high above. Sandra spots Eddie and Rita, calls out and speeds up to join them.
    [Show full text]
  • 1906 Catalogue.Pdf (7.007Mb)
    ERRATA. P. 8-For 1901 Samuel B. Thompson, read 1001 Samuel I?. Adams. ' P. 42—Erase Tin-man, William R. P. 52—diaries H. Smith was a member of the Class of 1818, not 1847. : P. 96-Erase star (*) before W. W. Dearing ; P. 113 Erase Cozart, S. W. ' P. 145—Erase Daniel, John. ' j P. 1GO-After Gerdine, Lynn V., read Kirkwood for Kirkville. I P. 171—After Akerman, Alfred, read Athens, (Ja., for New Flaven. ; P. 173—After Pitner, Walter 0., read m. India Colbort, and erase same ' after Pitner, Guy R., on p. 182. • P. 182-Add Potts, Paul, Atlanta, Ga. , ! CATALOGUE TRUSTEES, OFFICERS, ALUMNI AND MATRICULATES UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, AT ATHENS, GEORGIA, FROM 1785 TO 19O<». ATHENS, OA. : THF, E. D. STONK PRESS, 190G. NOTICE. In a catalogue of the alumni, with the meagre information at hand, many errors must necessarily occur. While the utmost efforts have been made to secure accuracy, the Secretary is assurer) that he has, owing to the impossibility of communicating with many of the Alumni, fallen far short of attaining his end. A copy of this catalogue will be sent to all whose addresses are known, and they and their friends are most earnestly requested to furnish information about any Alumnus which may be suitable for publication. Corrections of any errors, by any person whomsoever, are re spectfully invited. Communications may be addressed to A. L. HULL, Secretary Board of Trustees, Athens, Ga. ABBREVIATIONS. A. B., Bachelor of Arts. B. S., Bachelor of Science. B. Ph., Bachelor of Philosophy. B. A., Bachelor of Agriculture.
    [Show full text]
  • Afua Cooper, "Ever True to the Cause of Freedom – Henry Bibb
    Ever True to the Cause of Freedom Henry Bibb: Abolitionist and Black Freedom’s Champion, 1814-1854 Afua Cooper Black abolitionists in North America, through their activism, had a two-fold objective: end American slavery and eradicate racial prejudice, and in so doing promote race uplift and Black progress. To achieve their aims, they engaged in a host of pursuits that included lecturing, fund-raising, newspaper publishing, writing slave narratives, engaging in Underground Railroad activities, and convincing the uninitiated to do their part for the antislavery movement. A host of Black abolitionists, many of whom had substantial organizational experience in the United States, moved to Canada in the three decades stretching from 1830 to 1860. Among these were such activists as Henry Bibb, Mary Bibb, Martin Delany, Theodore Holly, Josiah Henson, Mary Ann Shadd, Samuel Ringgold Ward, J.C. Brown and Amelia Freeman. Some like Henry Bibb were escaped fugitive slaves, others like J.C. Brown had bought themselves out of slavery. Some like Amelia Freeman and Theodore Holly were free-born Blacks. None has had a more tragic past however than Henry Bibb. Yet he would come to be one of the 19th century’s foremost abolitionists. At the peak of his career, Bibb migrated to Canada and made what was perhaps his greatest contribution to the antislavery movement: the establishment of the Black press in Canada. This discussion will explore Bibb’s many contributions to the Black freedom movement but will provide a special focus on his work as a newspaper founder and publisher. Henry Bibb was born in slavery in Kentucky around 1814.1 Like so many other African American slaves, Bibb’s parentage was biracial.
    [Show full text]
  • Leaders Discuss State Funding, Property Tax
    HAPPY CHANUKAH! CHANUKAH STARTS TOMORROW, DECEMBER 15 Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890 (908) 232-4407 USPS 680020 Thursday, December 14, 2006 OUR 116th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 50-2006 Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J. www.goleader.com [email protected] SIXTY CENTS Union County ‘At Top of List’ For Pilot County Administrative District By MEGHAN GILL mately means for Westfield, but that tion of the public school districts, the Specially Written for The Westfield Leader the fact is that there was no public board of education of any county WESTFIELD — Superintendent discussion in our county, that the de- vocational school district and the of Schools William Foley announced cision was largely partisan and hid- board of education of any county Tuesday night that Union County is den from the public view,” he stated. special services school district may under consideration for a pilot county Mr. Foley asked every “resident of continue to exist in an advisory role.” administrative school district. Westfield who cares about our schools Those boards may pass a resolu- The bill to establish the program, and our community to e-mail Gover- tion to dissolve themselves pursuant A-8/S-49, passed in the New Jersey nor Corzine telling him that we are to regulations promulgated by the State Assembly Monday by a tally of opposed to a county school system, State Board of Education. If passed, 46-33-1. The bill will be up for a vote that we are angry about a legislative the legislation “would abolish local in the State Senate today, Thursday, process closed to public view and that district-level administrative or super- December 14.
    [Show full text]