I
1
I
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THE BETTER WE KNOW US
BY: ISAAC D. SMITH, JR.
STUDENT, ST. PETERS HIGH SCHOOL
MANSFIELD, OHIO
Many in the North and South were sur
prised to find that Negroes, especially
those who had been slaves, made good
soldiers. The idea of their doing any seri
ous fighting against white men was
simply ridiculous. The Negroes fought in
more than two hundred battles, they
fought bravely and won praise from both
friends and enemies. Twenty Negroes
won the Medal of Honor, America's
highest military honor.
'The contributibns of the Negro soldier
were remarkable in light of disadvan
tages under which he served. He was
placed in segrated units under white of
ficers who were often prejudiced. Negro
regiments were sent into battle with less
training than the white regiments had re
ceived and with weapons inferior to those
issued to whites. Their medical facilities
were worse and their doctors fewer. They
suffered greater casualties than whites
for all of these reasons.
For more than a year, the War De
partment paid Negro soldiers half as
much as whites. Until their pay was
made equal some negro regiments re
fused to accept any pay at all. However,
they all continued to fight.
The worst hazards which Negro troops
faced was capture by Confederates. The
South sold some into slavery and put
others to death. At Fort Pillow, Tenn.,
Negro troops were massacred after their
surrender on April 12, 1864.
The Confederacy dared not arm its
slaves. When New Orleans free Negroes
volunteered to fight, they were issued
broomsticks instead of guns. After the
city was captured by federal troops. Gen
eral Butler provided these soldiers with
guns and they went into action against
theConfederacy.
Negro women played a major role in
serving the troops behind the lines and
organizd relief societies. Susie King was
one of many negro nurses who vvorked
with Clara Barton tending the sick and
wounded. Harriet Tubman, familiar with
the south after ten years as a conductor
for the Underground Railroad, led Union
raids deep in confederate territory. Mrs.
Elizabeth Keckley, the White House
seamstress, began a relief society for the
freed men who poured behind the Union
lines or spilled over the country side in
wake of General Sherman march through
Georgia,
Northern negroes as well as the Pres
ident and Mrs. Lincoln contributed to
Mrs. Keckley's Contraband Relief Soci
ety. In Nashville and other southern
cities held by Union troops, negro men
and women organized their own commit
tees for relief.
Sergeant William H. Carney, one of the
twenty Negro Medal of Honor men
during the Civil War, took part in the re
capture of Fort Sumpter,
An ex-slave is transformed into a Union
soldier. There were more than 200,000
negroes who served in the Union armies
and Navy, Their courage was admired by
friends and feared foes,
Negro soldiers ser\ed on famous Union
ironclad, the Monitor. Their were large
numbers of negroes who served on Union
vessels.
American Negroes immediately an
swered President Lincoln's call for
75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebel
lion, but were turned away. One
hundred and fifteen Negro students from
Wilberforce University enlisted. They
• • *
were told this was a white man' s war and
the negro had nothing to do with it.
From the beginning. President Lincoln
made it clear that his central purpose was
saving the tJnion. He assured North and
South he would not meddle with slavery.
While Negroes and abolitionists called for
an end to slavery and the use of the Negro
soldier, Lincoln was concerned with keep
ing the loyalty of the four slave states that
remained in the Union. He also know
that most northerners would not support
a war fought to end slavery.
Although Lincoln has long opposed
slavery, he had also favored sending Neg
slavery, he had also favored sending
Negroes back to Africa for he didn't be
lieve that two races could live in peace in
America.
Then to prevent slavery from becoming
an issue in the conflict, the President and
Continued on Page 4
THE TRIBUNAL AID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME III, NO. 51
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26,1976
$5.00 PER YEAR
25CENTS
MEMBER:
North Carolina Black Publishers Association
North Carolina Press Association, Inc.
THE LITTLE PEOPLE
WHOSE BRAVE DEEDS
ARE WORTHY OF COM
MEMORATION. AT A
TIME WHEN OTHER
WOMEN WERE THINK-
r r r
INC OF THEIR SAFETY,
MOLLY WILLIAMS AND
CHLOE REVEALED RARE
QUALITIES OF BRAVERY
AND UNSHELFISHNESS.
The 1976 Editions of THE TRIBUNAL AID
will be dedicated to America’s bicentennial
Celebration, with emphasis on contributions
our Race has made in the making of America,
from birth to the present.,
In 1976 there should not be a need to lift
these contributions from Isolated sources. Our
past should be interwoven into the fabric of
our civilization, because we are, except for the
Indian, America’s oldest ethnic minority.
We have helped make America what it was,
and what it is, since the founding of Virginia.
We have been a factor in many major issues in
our history. There have been many misdeeds
Fay Ashe, Black
against us, yet we Wave been able to live
through them and fight back. This is living
proof of our history.
Our role in the making of America is neither
well known or correctly known. Many positive;
contributions have escaped historians and.
have not found their way into the pages of
History Editor
many history books.
We will strive to give readers, Black and
white, many little-known facts about our paat
and it is hoped that a proper perspective of oar
history will be of value to persons who may
believe that as Black People we have an
unworthy past; and hence, no strong claims to
all rights of other Americans.
' K
PROFILES OF BLACK WOMEN IN BLACK HISTORY
THE LATE SOCIOLO
GIST. E. FRANKLIN—
FRAZIER. PAID THIS
TRIBUTE TO THE I9th
CENTURY WOMAN:
AFTER EMANCIPA
TION WHEN THE WHOLE
SOCIAL FABRIC OF LIFE
CRUMBLE AND THE
VERY ECONOMIC BASIS
OF NEGRO EXISTENCE
WAS DESTROYED. IT
WAS THE NEGRO WO
MAN WHO MADE THE
SURVIAL OF THE NEGRO
POSSIBLE
THE DARKEST DAYS
OF SLAVERY DID NOT
BREAK THE SPIRIT OF
THE BLACK WOMAN.
INSTEAD THESE DAYS
PRODUCED. AN AMA
TEUR LA WYER. ABOLI
TIONIST LECTURERS.
THE GREAT "CONDUC— RANKS
TOR" OF THE UNDER
GROUND RAILROAD.
IN THE CIVIL WAR
WHICH FOLLOWED
BLACK WOMEN SERVED
AS NURSES. SPIES. AND
SOLDIERS IN THE
AS THE CENTURY PRO
GRESSED. THE BLACK
WOMAN EMERGED "AS
THE GREAT MAINSTAY
OF THE NEGRO RACE".
DURING THE NEXT
ff:w weeks we will
INTRODUCE TO YOU
SOME OF THESE BLACK
WOMEN THA T WERE
THE MAINSTA Y OF THE
PAST.
VOLUNTEER FIRE FICHTtR MoUy Williams IS /I
at the goose neck of Engine No. II, "pulling .uva^
for dear life."
MOLLY WILLIAMS
A FIRE-FIGHTER
An 1)1(1 Black Uoman
nani.il MOLLY WILLIAMS
was a slax' ol .lohn Aymar,
one »!' the last of the old
Kiii'k«'rl>oi*k«‘rs of New
\«>rk. She us('d to "Hang
around" a volunteer lire
eoiiipaiiy, Oc't'aiius i^>. No.
II. and the hoys of the
I'otiipany ni‘knaineil her
"Volunteer INo. 11." She
liecaine a familiar sight at
th(‘ firt' house in hi'r calico
dress and checkered apron,
with a clean handaii-
na n**atly folded o\‘r her
lirt'ust aiil anotlu'r out'
about her lu^ad. On oiit>
occasion, during a blinding
snow storm. th(‘re was a
fire on Williams Street. It
was hard work to draw the
engine and the first to take
hold )f the engine's two
rope was Molly, "pulling
away lor dear life." Later,
wh(‘M askfMl what engin«*
she belonged to. she would
always n'ply "I Ixdongs to
olil 'le>en: I allers run wid
dal ole hull gine". One of
till' nuMi of "Volunteer No.
11" wrote: You could not
look at Molly without
being impressed l»y her
honest fac‘. It was a Ix^ani-
ing lighthouse of goMl
nature".
{.ENA MASON 1864-? METHODIST
EVANGELIST
Lena Mason was an evangelist from
Quincy, Illinois. She attended the
Douglass High School in Hannibal, Mis
souri and Professor Knott's School in
Chicago. In 1883, she married George
Mason and the couple had six children,
five of them died before reaching adult
hood.
At the age of 23, Lena entered the min
istry, preaching at first to all white audi
ences and later to mixed congregations.
She became attached to the Black Con
ference of the Methodist Church and
preached in almost every state of the
Union, reportedly accounting for some
1,617 conversions.
Mrs. Mason was also a noted lecturer,
artist and poet. Much of her poetry dealt
with the Black liberation movement.
Typical sentiments can be found in the
following lines taken from THE NEGRO
IN EDUCATION.
"We are pressing on and upward
And for education crave.
For it' s written now in history
We shall never more be slaves."
ANNIE WKALTHY HOLLAND
demonstration agent for North Carolina
and a Jeanes Fund supervisor of 19
county training schools and ten city
schools. (The JEANES FUND was a
Black Rural School Fund founded by a
Philadelphia Quaker, Anna T. Jeanes.)
She organized reading circles and teacher
training groups and founded the first
Black P. T. A. in North Carolina.
DR. HALLIE TANNER JOHNSON
FIRST WOMAN PHYSICIAN
IN ALABAMA
DR. HALLIE TANNER JOHNSONwas
the first woman, regardless of race, to
practice medicine in the state of
Alabama, a post given her by Booker T.
Washington. Dr. Tanner Johnson also
established a nurses' school and a dis
pensary at Tuskegee.
Dr. Johnson was one of several women
who faced the State Board examination,
but she was the first to fulfill the neces
sary requirements to practice. Prior to
her acceptance, Alabama newspapers
ridiculed the fact that a Black was even to
appear before the State Board. After she
qualified as a practitioner, her achieve
ment was recorded in all the major
American newspapers.
Dr. Johnson was the sister of Henry
Tanner, the celebrated American painter.
Her husband, John Quincy Johnson, was
president of Allen University.
ANNA ELIZABETH HUDLUN
"CHICAGO'S GRAND OLD LADY"
ANNA ELIZABETH HUDLUN (1840-
1914), known as the "Fire Angel" or
"Mother Hudlun" and finally "Chicago's
Grand Old Lady", was a religious and so
cial worker born in Uniontown, PA short
ly after her mother was set free by the
Quaker family which owned her.
During th
Fe\(‘r Plague in \ew ^ ork.
.lohn .''Ireet. a (|uit-l middle-
class n(‘ighhorhood. suffer
ed more than otIuT areas.
People were strii ken "like
flies:" an>oiie «ho had a
chance fled to (freenwich
\ illagt‘ and otiu'r un‘on-
taniinated sections of the
citx. An old Black woman,
a llower seller who did
otht‘r odil jobs. Ii\t'd
on .()hn Strt'el. Slu‘ was
popular \\ith la\\\'r> in lli(‘
area and often cleaned their
CHLOE
A FLOW ER SELLER
1822 Y ('How ollic(‘s. \\ hcti tli(',|(»hn .^t.
roidenis got read\ to go.
Chloe reliised to IcaM' the
cil\ and remained behind
alone in order to feed the
abandoned dogs. cat>.
goal> and hird».
W hen ihe people relum
ed and h'arned whal she
had done, thex (piickl)
raix'd nionex to lune tiie
Black \\onian's portrait
paint('d. surrotinded 1>\ the
pets ulio^e li\es >lie had
*^a\ed.
' V ■ /
LENA MASON
ANNIE WEALTHY HOLLAND
STATE SLPERVISOR OF NEGRO
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN
NORTH CAROLINA
ANNIE W'EALTHY HOLLAND (1871-
1934) was born in the Isle of Wright
County, in Virginia and received her
dipolma from the Virginia Normallndus-
trial Institute in Petersburg, Virginia,
After teaching for a short period in the
Isle of Wright County, she became State
Supervisor ol Negro elementary schools
in North Carolina, where she also orirati
in North Carolina, where she also oj^,u;
i/eH industrial classes.
Ill 1915. Mrs. Holland was both a home
ed to people of bothe races who sought
refuge from the disastrousChicago fire of
1871. Mrs. Hudlun's work during the
fire gained her the title of "FIRE
ANGEL."
In the second Chicago fire of 1874, she
again worked to relieve many homeless
and distressed citizens, supplying good
clothing and necessary food to families of
both races. This time she won the title of
"CHICAGO'S GRAND OLD LADY*.
Mrs. Hudlun organized clubs for the pur
pose of placing needy old people in’the
Home for the Aged and Infirm.
A SLAVE WHO TRIED TO RESIST
Slaves resorted to various means of re
sisting slavery. One that was most
popular among women was simulating
pregnancy.
When Becky gave pregnancy as her
reason for continued slackness in her
work, her master became skeptical. He
told her that she was to be examined and
would be punished in the event that she
was not pregnant. Two days later a Black
mid-wife announced that Becky's baby
had been born. At the same time a neigh
boring planter began a search for a child
nine months old which had been missing.
The child was found in Becky's cabin,
two teeth pulled and the tip of its navel
cut off. The baby died and Becky was
convicted of manslaughter.
DESPERATE SLAVE M0THL;R
MARGARET GARNER
Many slaves were not only to take the
lives of their masters or overseers, but
were on occassion charged with murder
of their own children. This ghastly crime
was generally committed to prevent the
children from growing up in bondage.
One of the saddest cases was that of
Margaret Garner.
Margaret and her husband had plan
ned to escape from slavery in the winter
when the Ohio River would be frozen and
they could flee across the frozen river'
from Kentucky to Ohio. The trip was
made in the winter of 1865. After cross
ing the river at night they went to the
house of a free Black in Cincinnati. Their
pursuers tracked them down in their
hideout and after some resistance broke
down the door and discovered that
Margaret, the mother, who, preferring
death to slavery for her children, had
sought to take their lives. One of the
children lay dead on the floor. The case
was brought to court, and her return was
ordered.
UR. HAlLIf; TANNER JOHNSON
ANNA ELIZABETH HUDLUN
Anna and her mother relocated in
Chicago in 1854 before her marriage to
Joseph Hudlun. Mrs. Hudlun soon be
came an active member in the Quinn
Chapel African Methodist Espiscopal
Church and ministered to the sick and
needy of the area in which she and her
husband had settled. The Hudlun house
(one of the first in the area contracted for
and built by Black owners) was also open-
>OOCX90000C3000000^0000000CX900C90GX3000Q ^
On their return to slavery, Margaret
overwhelmed with despair, attempted to
drown herself and her child by jumping
into a section of the river where the ice
had melted, but even "deliverance
through death" was denied her. She was
sold to a trader who took her to the cotton
fields in the deep south.
1776 Honoring America's Bicentennial T976