THE TRIBUNAL AID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME III, NO. 52
WEDNESDAY. JUNE 2,1976
PER YEAR
25 CENTS
MEMBER:
-North Caiolina Black Publishers Association “
North Carolina Press Association, Inc.
BICENTENNIAL
BLACK HISTORY
“Lost-Strayed-Or Stolen ”
xpooooc>oooo'*>BgQO^^^^
The 1976 Editions of THE TRIBUNAL AID
will be dedicated to Aiperica’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, Ame^ca’s oldest ethnic minority.
We have helped make America what it was,
and what it is, sinc^ the founding of Virginia.
We have been a factor in many mtyor issues in
our history. There have been many misdeeds
Favt' Ash*» Black History Editor
against us, yet we Kave 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
many history books.
We will strive to give readers. Black and
white, many little-known facts about our past
and it Is hoped that a proper perspective of our
well known or correctly known. Many positive- histor> will be of value to persons who may
contributions have escaped historians and. believe that as Black People we have an
have not found their way into the pages of unworthy past; and hence, no strong claims to
all rights of other Americans.
PROFILES OF BLACK WOMEN IN BLACK HISTORY
THE
Gfsr.
Black history In the Western Hendsphere jBOSt
probably begins with the discovery of the New World
by Christopher Columbus In 1942. Blacks are known to
have participated meaningfaliy in a nninber of later
exploratkms made by Europeans In various parts of the
United States and Spanish America. Facts such as
these at oace fashion a new dimension for Black history
within the mainstream of American history. Inasmuch
as one of the primary purposes of this feature Is to
record some historical achievements of the Black, it
becomes most important to offer the reader
chroooio^al accounts through which he can
conveniently familiarize himself with the broad sweep
of American Black history. The years covered here are
1492-1954.
LATE SOCIOLO—
E. FRANKLIN—
FRAZIER. PAID THIS
TRIBUTE TO THE 19ih
CF.NTURY 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 LAWYER. ABOLI
TIONIST LECTURERS.
RANKS.
lOIPHEADUJ’IflA
Chairt’d by Richard Allen
ihc first National Negro
Convention meets Ironi
September 20-24 at Pliil-
adelphia's Bethel Church,
launching a church-affiliat
ed program to improve the
social status of the Ameri
can Negro.
1«:?1 B(>STX)>
The UBERATOR, an aboli
tionist organ, is loundt;d bv
William Garrison. "1 am in
earnt‘st--i v\ill not t'(]uivo-
cate--! VNill not excust‘--l
will not retrt'at a singlt' inch
AND I WIU. BE HEAliD."
ia'5i .s()l^^H.vMI’^x)^
(XRMl. VIRtHMA
Nat Turner leads the great
est slave rebt'llion in his
tory, with some 60 whites
kill('d and the entire South
throwTi into panic. Turner
is (.‘iiptured on October ^30,
and lianged in Jerusalem
(Viriiiniai 12 davs lal(*r.
\m i*nn.\DKu*HL\
Convocation of tlu* first
Annual Convention ol the
People ol Color at Wes-
levan Church, where lele-
gates froiTi five states
resolved to study black con
ditions, e\plt)re settlement
[)Ossibilities in Canada, and
raise mont'v for an indus
trial college in New Haven.
Delegates oppose the
.American Colt)nizalion Soc-
ietv and rcTOmmend annual
meetings.
1833 CANTERBURY,
coiNNEcncur
Prudence Crandall, a white
liberal, is arrested lor con
ducting an academy lor
Nt'gro girls.
IIKVMMO
Founding in Ohio ol Ober-
lin College, integrated from
the outset and a leadt'r in
tlu'abolitionist cause.
Bv the tinit' the Civil War
erupts, Negnx.'s constitute
fuilv one-third ol Oberlin's
sln.'lents.
DR. AMNA J. COOPER
SORBO»E. Ph.D: AGE 66
Dr. Anna J. Cooper (1858-1964) was a
noted educator from Raleigh, North Caro
lina. She attended St. Augustine Normal
School in Raleigh, where at the age of 11,
she became a student-leacher and
launched a celebrated career as an educa
tor.
In 1877 she married Reverend G.A.C.
Cooper, pastor of St. Augustine Church
in Raleigh. She left for Oberlin College,
where she continued her studies and
taught classes to a majority of white stu
dents in the Preparatory Department in
1881. A vear after her graduation in 1885
from Oberlin, she became a professor of
Tiiodern languages and sciences at
Wilberforce University. For the next two
vears she taught at her alma mater, in St.
Augustine Normal. Her primary work in
the field of education and adminstration
came during her 50-year tenure as an in
structor and principal ol Old M Street
High School in Washington, D.C. and its
successor, Dunbar.
'^Historical Landmarksi
I Of Black America |
L r
No more substantial testimony to the role of the Black
In the growth and development of America can be
found than the numerous historical landmarks in
various regions of the country which are associated with
Black Americana. Many of these—like the Alamo and
Bunker HlU-are not conventionally known as sites
involving chapters of Negro history.
i)()1!(;lvss
Hom,
Mil W.ST.SOnWvVsT
"Ct'dar Hill," llie 20-rooiii
colonicil mansion in which
Frciierick Douglass lived
tor the Iasi 13 vears ol his
lite, has been preserved as
as nionunietU to ihc great
19th uMiturv abolitionisl.
In 196K Secretary ot the In
terior Stewart Udali declar
ed it a national shrijie.
Cre(iit for the restoration
and preservation ol the
home oelongs largely to the
National Association oi
Colored Women's Clubs,
which worked hand in hand
with the Douglass .Associa
tion.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY,
{oun(ie^l in 1867, is the
largest institution of higher
learning established lor the
Negro in the immediate
post-Civil War period.
Covering more than 50
acres on one of the highest
elevations in the District of
Columbia, the campus
grounds and the physical
plant are valued at more
than 40 million dollars. Of
particular interest is the
ramedfounders Library
_ * c *
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Drotning, Phillip T. A
Guide to Negro History in
America New York; Dou-
wliich contains more than
.'!(X),000 volumes and in
cludes the Moorland Col
lection, one of the finest
colledions on Negro lile
and history in the United
States.
I)A^1X)>A
BhTin»^;OOkMVN
COIJLhX.E
One of the leading institu
tions in the South for the
training of Negro- teachers,
Bethune-Cookman College
was founded in .1904 by
Marv McLeod Bethune on
"faitli and a doUar-and-a-
half."
In her day, Mrs. Bethune
advisor to FVesident F.D.
Rixisevelt and Harrv S.
Truman, was one of the
most powerful and influ
ential Negrtx'S in the
United States.
olisto::
OLl STM, BATITJ^TUJ)
HISTORIC 'Mt:>H)Rl VI.
Olu.stee was the site ol a
IiIockIv Civil War battle
during which the unsea
soned soldiers ol the 8th
U.S. Colored Troops lost
more than 300 men, nianv
Continued on Pmg* % ■
America New York: Pitt
man Publishing Corpora
tion 1967
Ploski, Harry A. Phe
DR. ANNA J. COOPER
Besides teaching, she also found time
in 1892 to write a book entitled, A VOICE
FROM THE SOUTH. A highly respected
and well received book on racial problems
At the age of 66, she capped a lifelong
career of scholarship by receiving a
doctor of philosophy degree from SUR—
BONNE in Paris.
From 1929 to 1941, Dr. Cooper served
as President of FRELINGHUYSEN UNI
VERSITY, a school for employed Blacks
which she located in her own home on T
Street in Washington, D.C. Dr. Cooper
died on Februarv 27, 1964 at the age of
106.
SARAH DLDLE^ PETTEV
A.M.E. SION MISSIONARY LEADER
Sarah Dudley Pettey, a popular teacher
and gifted church organist was born in
New- Berne, North Carolina, the daughter
of the Honorable E.R. and Caroline
held important local, slate and national
positions. Sarah Dudley could read and
write at the age of six. She entered the
grade school of New Bern and later stu
died at the State Normal School for three
vears before attending the famous
SCOTIA SEMINARY at Concord, North
Carolina. She graduated from Scotia with
distinction in 1883 and became a second
assistant in the New Bern Grade School
and later the Vice-Principal.
At tje Craven County Teachers' Insti
tute, where she led classes lor two
summers, she was very popular with her
students and was referred to by the title
of "Model Teacher". After her marriage
to Bishop Charles Calvin Pettey in 4889,
she retired from teaching and became her
husband’s private secretary, accompany
ing him on several trips abroad. Sarah
was an effective speaker and writer, she
used these skills advantageously as
General Secretary of the Women' s Home
and Foreign Missionary Society of the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
CHARLOTTE HAW KINS BROWN
THE GUIDING SPIRIT OF PALMER
MEMORIAL INSTITITE
Charlotte Hawkins Brown was born in
Henderson, North Carolina in 1884 to
Ringo and Rebecca Hawkins, former
slaves. In her childhood, the family',
moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and ^
Charlotte was enrolled in the public
schools of nearby Cambridge. Shortly be
fore graduation from Cambridge English
High School, Charlotte took a job caring
for a neighbor's iniant after school to
earn money for a silk slip to be worn
under her organdy graduation dress.
One day she was observed by a woman
while pushing the baby's carriage w'ith
one hand and turning pages of a Latin
textbook with the other. The woman who
was so impressed by Charlotte's per
severance turned out to be Mrs. Alice
Freeman Palmer, Second President of
THE GREAT CONDUC
TOR ' OF THE UNDER
GROUND RAILROAD.
IN THE CIVIL WAR
WHICH FOLLOWED
BLACK WOMEN SERVED
AS NURSES. SPIES. AND
SOLDIERS IN THE^
including doctrates from Wilberforce and
Lincoln Universities. The Young
Womt'n's Christian Association named
her to its National Board. Miss Hawkins
was elected to membership in many
organizations. North Carolina's gover
nor set a precedent in 1940 by appointing
her to the State Council ol Delense.
Dr. Brown's other interest included
the North Carolina Federation of
Women's Clubs, The National Associa
tion of Colored Women, the Federal
Council of Churches, the Urban League,
and various teacher improvement groups.
MARY BURNEIT TALBERT
FIRST WOMAN TO RECEIVE
THE spin(;arin medal
FEW WEEKS WE WILL
INTRODUCE TO YOU
SOME OF THESE BLACK
WOMEN I HA L WERE
THE MAINSTA ) OF THE
PAST.
AS THE CENTURY PRO
GRESS ED. THE BLACK
WOMAN EMERGED AS
THE GREA T MAINSTA Y
OF THE NEGRO RACE.
DURING THE NEXT
hedford. Massachusetts. Three children
were born in New Bedford before the
lamil\ mo\('d to Lvnn, Massachusetts.
( HARI on I.
HAWKINS BROWN
bleday and Company, 1968 Kaiser, Ernest The Negro
Katz, William Loren Alamanac New York: Bcl-
Eyewitness: The Negro in luether Company
^SAiLh DUDLEY PETTEY \
Dudley. Her father was a member of the
General Assembly of North Carolina
during the Reconstruction period and
Wellesly College and later Charlotte's
sponsor.
Miss Hawkins' studies continued at
the State Normal School in Salem, Mass.
In 1901 she left that school to take a
teaching position offered by the Ameri
can Missionary Association at Bethany
Institute, Sedalia, North Carolina. In
1902 the AMA closed Bethany Institute
and members of the community petition
ed Miss Hawkins to remain in Sedalia and
establish her own school. Mrs. Hawkins
spent that summer making appearances
as a singer and elocutionist to raise funds
for the venture. The school later know as
PALMER MEMORIAL INSTITUTE,
palmer memorial institute, opened in the
fall of 1902 in a reconditioned log
dwelling.
Palmer's subsequent development and
renown have earned many honors for its
founder. At the Philadelphia Sesquicen-
tennial in 1926, Mrs. Brown was one of
seven educators honored by the North
Carolina Board of Education in it's
"HALL OF FAME." Colleges and Uni
versities conferred honorary degrees.
MARY BURNETT TALBERT
Mary Burnett Talbert (1866-1923) an
educator and social organizer was born in
Oberlin, Ohio. She graduated both from
Oberlin High School and Oberlin College,
the only Black member in her college
class. After graduation, she accepted the
position as the assistant principal of
Bethel University in Little Rock, Ark.
Later she resigned this position for the
post of principal in the Union High School
At the time (1887), the post was the
highest ever held by a Black woman in
the state of Arkansas.
After her marriage to William A.
Talbert, she moved to Buffalo and made
that city her home. In Buffalo, she served
as treasurer of the Michigan Avenue
Baptist Church and also founded the
Christian Culture Congress, of which she
was president for 20 years. She was also
a charter member and later president of
the Empire State Federation of Colored
Women and President of the National
Association of Colored Women. Her
work in the latter organization ranged
from such activities as restoring the home
of the celebrated abolitionist Fred
erick Douglass, to scarificing time and
money as a champion of prison reform in
manv Southern states. During World
War I, she worked overseas and provided
religious training for many men bound for
the front. After the war she served as
National Director of the Anti-Lynching
Crusaders and represented the National
Association of Colored Women at the
sixth quinquennial meeting of the
International Council of Women in
NorwaY.
In 1922, Mary Talbert became the first
black woman to win the annual Spingarn
Award for highest achievement by a
Black. The award, sponsored by the
NAACP, has since been given to only four
other ivomen in its history.
ANNA MLRRAY DOLGLASS
ABOLITIONIST HOSTESS
Anna Murray Douglass(?-1882 was
born free in Denton Carolina County,
Maryland. At the age of 17, she began
working as a house maid for a French
family in Baltimore, where she met her
husband-to-be, the renowned freedmon-
fighter, Frederick Douglass. With her
savings she financed his flight to New
York, where they married before pro
ceeding to their new home in New
ANNA MURRAY DOUGLASS
Anna Douglass was a recognized co-
worker in the Anti-Slavery Societies (if
Lvnn and Boston. In 1847, tlie Dou({-
lasses moved to Rochester, New York,
where the NORTH STAR newspa|)(!r, a
celebrated abolitionisl journal, was
founded and operated by Mr.douglass.
The Douglass homt' became a link in the
great Underground Railroad system
which sped many lleeing slaves north
ward to freedom. Mrs. Douglass re
mained active in the work of race advace-
nient until her death in 1882.
lOSEPHINE ST. PIERRE RUFFIN
PRESIDENT—NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF AFRO-AMERICAN
ViOMEN
.Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842-
1924) was a native of Boston and founder
of the New Era Club oi Boston. The
organization publisheil the WOMEN'S
ERA,the first newspaper ever published
bv Black women in the United States.
.Josephine was the wile ol Judge George
L. Ruffin, the first Black judge in New
England. She f)layed a leading role in
t‘\('rv movi'ment dt'signed to emancipate
theblack woman. .Josephine Ruffin was
of mingli'd French, English, American
Indian and African descent. Alter the
Ci\i! War she organized th(^ Kansas
Relief Association which .s,ent clothing
ami money to the Black relugees who
were colonizing [)arts ol Kansas.
The New Era Club was organized by
Mrs. Ruffin adopted as its aim, th;
furtherance of the Black race generally,
and the improvtmient of the status of the
Black woman particularly. Mrs. Ruffin
was also President of the National
Federation of Afro-American Women,
which later united with the Washington
National League and grew into the
National Association of Colored Women.
JOSEPHINE ST. PIERRE RUFFIN
1776 Honormg America's Bicentennial 1976
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