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T. McCants Stewart was born into a relatively privileged family in Charleston, South Carolina that could afford to give him a pretty good secondary school education. He received his law degree from the University of South Carolina at Columbia in… Read More

Born a slave in Florida, T. Thomas Fortune was freed after emancipation. As a young man, he headed north to Washington D.C. where he attended Howard University and worked for a local newspaper. He then settled in New York City and established himself… Read More

Born in Falmouth, Mass, Charles B. Ray moved to New York City in 1832. Although he was an ordained Methodist minister, Ray had many other occupations as well. He ran a boot and shoe store, and, In the late 1830s, took over the editorship of the… Read More

Born into slavery in Virginia, Thomas Downing escaped north with his family and settled in New York City. He was a prominent leader in the black community, an early member of the African Society for Mutual Relief, a vestryman at St. Philip's, a… Read More

The younger brother of Patrick Reason, Charles also attended the Mulberry Street School in the late 1820s where he excelled as a student. After graduation, he dedicated himself to a life of public activism, fighting for the abolitionist cause ase… Read More

Alexander Crummell was a student at the Mulberry Street School at the same time as Peter Guignon; the two remained lifelong friends. After graduation, Crummell attended Noyes Academy in New Hampshire and Oneida Institute in upstate New York with… Read More

Born into slavery in Maryland, Henry Highland Garnet escaped north with his family, arriving in New York City in 1825. He was a student at the Mulberry Street School at the same time as Peter Guignon, and later attended Noyes Academy in New Hampshire… Read More

Born in New York City in 1813, James McCune Smith referred to himself as “the son of a self-emancipated bond-woman” who owed his “liberty to the Emancipation Act of the State of New York.” He attended the Mulberry Street… Read More