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Central Pennsylvania's journey from enslavement to freedom “Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” —John Lewis, 01 March 2020.






Year of Jubilee back in print The Afrolumens Project book, The Year of Jubilee (2 volumes), is back in print and available on Amazon. Updated with new covers, the volumes are at the links below. The Year of Jubilee: Men of God, available here The Year of Jubilee: Men of Muscle, available here New Items Summary and text of the 1826 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Decision that ended the illegal enslavement of the children of term slaves. Anonymously published advertisements offering enslaved men, women and children for sale, from Cumberland County newspapers. First Advertised Slave Auction in Pennsylvania, advertisement from The American Weekly Mercury (Philadelphia), July 1722 A new project: Posting early Pennsylvania laws and court decisions regulating enslavement. Just added the 1722 Act Placing a Duty on Slaves Imported Into Pennsylvania, and the 1788 Amendments to the 1780 Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act, both with commentary and summaries. Cross-Dressing and Gender Role Reversals by Freedom Seekers Enslaved Persons Manipulate Gender Roles to Secure Freedom. The Early Underground Railroad Activities of William Churchman's Daughters, East Nottingham, Chester County, 1795 Intriguing clues in an old newspaper notice. The Carolina Singers Performance at the African American Odd Fellow's Hall in Tanners Alley, May 1873. What does "Country-born" mean? What are pantaloons, castor hats and pistoles? Why would a captured runaway be put in a goal? Escape notices, documents and advertisements for enslaved people are filled with obscure and archaic terms. The Afrolumens Project has created a quick-reference glossary: Afrolumens Glossary of Enslavement Terms..
On This Date September events important to local African American history (see the whole year) September 1, 1780: The first Harrisburg area slave holder to register slaves according the 1780 Gradual Abolition Act is Elizabeth Carson, who registered her "Negro Male," Pompey, aged fourteen years, as a "slave for life." The listing of Pompey by Elizabeth Carson is here. September 1, 1780: Colonel Tye (Titus Cornelius), leader of the Loyalist Guerrilla unit known as the Black Brigade, is wounded in the attack at Colt's Neck, New Jersey. The wound became infected and he died a few days later. September 1, 1835: A follow-up meeting of Harrisburg anti-abolition supporters is held in a market shed on the square, after being barred from meeting in the county courthouse. Impassioned speeches are delivered by J. J. Clendenin, publisher Henry K. Strong, and attorney Charles C. Rawn. September 2, 1914: Artist Romare Bearden is born in Charlotte, North Carolina. Visit the Romare Bearden Foundation at https://beardenfoundation.org/ September 3, 1838: With the help of local free Black woman Anna Murray, Frederick Douglass, an enslaved man in Maryland, escapes from slavery in Fells Point, Baltimore. Douglass would become a tireless lifelong campaigner for African American social, political, and legal rights. The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site may be visited here. September 4, 1838: American Anti-slavery Society agent Daniel Alexander Payne visits with William C. Goodridge in York, as part of his lecturing circuit of Pennsylvania. During his trip, he met with anti-slavery leaders in each location and distributed literature. See the listing for William Goodridge in the Underground Railroad Whos Who. Read more about Daniel Payne's travels and anti-slavery agitation here. September 11, 1851: Slaveholder Edward Gorsuch is killed while attempting to recover runaways who had taken shelter with William Parker in Christiana, Pennsylvania. The "Christiana Resistance" marks the first organized armed resistance by free African Americans against slave catchers in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Law. A detailed account of the Christiana Resistance may be found here. September 12, 1992: NASA astronaut Mae Jemison is the first African American woman to travel in space, orbiting Earth on the space shuttle Endeavor with five other astronauts. September 15, 1830: Annual Negro Conventions begin in Philadelphia. Meeting in Bethel Church, delegates began the annual events that would coordinate African American resistance to slavery and anti-Black legislation. September 18, 1850: President Millard Fillmore signs the Fugitive Slave Act into law. Read about the chilling effect the new Fugitive Slave Law had on Harrisburg's Underground Railroad network. September 18, 1895: Booker T. Washington delivers his Atlanta Compromise speech at the Cotton States and International Exhibition in that city ("Cast Down Your Buckets Where You Are.") A transcript of Washington's landmark speech and an audio clip of his voice are accessible online from the Library of Congress. September 21, 2002: A new tombstone, with corrected date of birth, is dedicated at Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg, for Thomas Morris Chester. (photos of event here) September 22, 1862: President Lincoln declares that all slaves in states in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be free. September 24, 1862: Fourteen governors of Northern states meet in Altoona, Pennsylvania and approve the emancipation measures of President Lincoln. A scholarly article detailing the War Governor's Conference at Altoona may be accessed here. September 25, 1838: AAS agent Daniel Alexander Payne arrives in Carlisle, where he stays with William Webb and visits barber and anti-slavery activist John Peck. Read about John Peck in the Underground Railroad Who's Who September 25, 1851: Harrisburg is panicked as four African American strangers passing through town are rumored to be murderous rioters from Christiana. With the help of local men from Matamoras, the four are arrested and taken back to Harrisburg. There, District Judge John J. Pearson dismisses charges for lack of evidence against the four men accused of having participated in the Christiana Rebellion. To Judge Pearson's dismay, Federal Fugitive Slave Commissioner Richard McAllister immediately seizes the men in the courtroom and remands them south as fugitive slaves, after a short hearing. Read more about this incident. September 28, 1785: David Walker is born in Wilmington, North Carolina. His "Appeal in Four Articles, together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World," published in September 1829, outraged slaveholders because it called for violent resistance to their captivity by slaves. The complete text of Walker's Appeal plus an image of the original title page is here. September 30, 1850: Harrisburg lawyer Richard McAllister is appointed by United States Chief Justice Roger B. Taney to the post of U.S. Commissioner to hear cases under the new Fugitive Slave Act. With distinct pro-slaveholder sympathies, McAllister employs several Harrisburg constables as deputies to actively and energetically pursue fugitive slaves throughout central Pennsylvania. A fairly comprehensive account of McAllister's activities as Slave Commissioner is here.
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