THE TRIBUNAL AID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
jHistorical Landmark^i
I Of Black America J
No more sabstantial 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 HUl'-are not conventionally known as sites
involving chapters of Negro history.
GEORGIA
Atlanta; Atlanta University
System-'Ebenezer Baptist
Church South View
Cennetery
The campus of the Atlanta
University System (consist
ing of Atlanta University,
and Morris Brown, Clark,
Moorehouse and Spelman
Colleges) is one of the most
beautiful to be found any
where in the South.
EBENEZER BAPTIST
CHURCH had as its asso
ciate pastor the Rev. Mar
tin Luther King Jr., the
most celebrated spokesman
for non-violent protest pro
duced in American in the
20th century. It was from
this church that Dr. King
radiated outward through
the rest of the South, orga
nizing chapters of the
Southern Christian Leader
ship Conference (SCLC),
the civil rights coalition
which served as president.
Funeral services for Dr.
King were held in this
church, and attended by a
host of notables from all
over the worls. As millions
watched on television,
mourners lined up for miles
behind the mule-drawn
wagon the carried Dr. King
from Ebcnezer to More
house College, his alma
mater. There, the eulogies
were delivered, and more
than 150,00 paid their last
respects to a great and fear
less American niatyre.
Dr. King was laid to rest in
South View Cemetery,
where a marble crypt was
inscribed with the words
which he had used to con
clude his famous speech
delivered on the occasion of
the 1963 March on Wash
ington. The words, taken
from an old slave song:free
at last, free at last, thank
God Almighty I'm free at
last." South View was
founded in 1868 by Negroes
who balked at a prevailing
policy which required that
they be buried in the rear
of ihe municipal cemetery.
COLUMBUS:
"BUND TOM" MARKER
(U.S.27AI
BRAGG SMITH MARKER
The "Blind Tom" Marker
refers visitors and pedes
trians to the grave site of
the famous black pianist,
"Blind Tom" Bethune, son
of a slave, but a remarkably
gifted prodigy who asto
nishing talent brought him
into the salons of Europe,
where royalty marvelled
at his virtuoso perfor
mances. "Blind Tom" also
toured his own country and
excited the wonder and
admiration of appreciative
audiences everywhere.
The Bragg Smith, located
in the Columbus Colored
Cemetery, marks the grave
site and marble memorial
built by the city in memory
of Bragg Smith, who was
killed while attempting to
rescue the city engineer
from a cave-in.
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BICENTENNIAL
BLACK HISTORY
“Lost-Strayed-Or Stolen ”
cwoOQOO«soooooco.peooooooycS
Black histoty >b the Western Hemisphere most
probably begins with the discovery of the New World
by Christopher Columbus in 1942. Blacks are known to
have participated meaningfully in a number of later
explorations made by Europeans In various parts of the
United States and Spanish America. Facts such as
these at once fashion a new dimension for Black histi^
wtrtiln 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
chronological accounts through which he can
conveniently familiarize himself with the broad sweep
of American Black history. The years covered here are
1492-1954.
1834 ABBEVnXE,
SOUTH CAROLINA
Birth of Henry McNeal
Turner, writer and clergy
man who serves as an army
chaplain during the Civil
War and goes on to become
one of the most ardent
spokesman for the partria-
tion of Negroes in Africa.
Turner promotes the cause
of exodus by frequent
travels to West Africia,
where he introduces the
Methodist religion.
1834 BRITISH EMPIRE
Slavery is abolistied in the
British Empire.
^ * * *
bibliography
Drotning. Phillip T. A
Guide to Negro History hi
America New York: Dou
bleday and Company, 1968
Katz, William Loren
Eyewitness: The Negro In
VOLLMEIV,NO. 1
\^T;DNESDA\ , JLTSE 9,1976
$6.00 PER ^TAR
25 CE.NTS
MEMBER: North Carolina Black Publishers Association North Carolina Press Association^ Inc.
The 1976 Editions of THE TRIBUNAL AID
will be dedicated to Aiaerica’s bicentennial
Celebration, witii emphasis on contributions
our Race has made in the malting 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 itmnding of Virginia.
We have been a factor in many major issues in
our history. There have been many misdeeds
Ka\' \sh', Black
against us, yet we have 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 Baders, Black and
white, many little-known facts about our past
and It Is hoped that a proper perspective of our
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.
PROFILES OF BLACK WOMEN IN BLACK HISTORY
The late sociologist. E.
Franfliii Frazier, paid this
tribute to the 19th centry
woman: ",4fter Emancipa
tion when tiie whole social
fabric of life crumble and
the \cr\ (‘conomir basis of
N‘gro «*xistence was de
stroyed. it was the iNegro
woman who made the sur
vival of the Negro pos
sible".
The darkest da\s of sla
very did not break the spirit
of the Black woman. In-
stf'ad these days produced
an amateur lawyer, al>oli-
tionist, lecturer and the
great "conductor" ol the
underground railroad.
Ill the civ il war which fol
lowed. Bla‘k women served
as nurses, spies and sol-
liiers in the ranks.
As the century progres
sed, the Black woman e-
merged 'As the muinstay
of the INegro race".
During th* next few'
weeks we will intnnluce to
you some of these Black
women that Vvere lh* main
stay of the past.
8LE M. BROWN
An Eastern Star From Des Moines
Sue M. brown (1877-1941) was an active
club womani, college trustee and writer
born in Staton, Virginia. She was educat
ed in the |/ublic school system of her \
native city, and 1902 she married S. Joe
Brown. In 1906 she founded the INTEL—
LECTUAL [MPKOVEMENT CLUB and a
year later set up an organization for the
Black women oj Iowa. Between 1915 and
1917 she served as President of the Iowa
Federation of Colored Women. In 1921
she was named a Life Trustee to the ^
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COL
ORED WOMEN.
Her interest carried over into the field of
women's suffrage, and she established
the Des Moines League of Colored
Eomen Voters. Mrs. Brown was also
aclive in Des Monies as the Branch Pres-
dent of the National Association for the
advancement of Colored People between
1925 and 1931, and as a member of the
Executive Committee of the Des Moines
Interracial Commission. Her political
affiliations involved her work with the
Polk County Republic Committee and as a
delegate to the Republican County and
State Conventions. She was also a
member of the Interracial Commission of
the Federal Council of Churches and
President of the Des Moines Branch of
the Church Women's Interracial
Commission.
among churches in the United States
which were alTiHated with the National
Ba| tist. When the school opened in 1909
Ms. Burroughs became president. The
school curriculum emphasized pratical
and professional skills in household work,
gardening, interior decorating and
several allied vocational fields.
Miss Burroughs included religion and
Bible training in the school curriculum.
The Motto on the Chapel wall symbolizes
hei intentions and the scope of her
efforts. It reads; "We specialize in the
whooly impossible."
Miss Burroughs was active in a number
of causes during her lifetime, primarily
those involving the social and economic
progress of the Black race. She was a
member of both the National Association
of Colored Women and the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People.
SISSIEKETTA JONES
The "Black Patti"
Sisseretta Jones (1868-1933) was a
famous singer named by her public as the
'black Patti" {after the celebrated Italian
soprano, Adelina Patti), born Matilda S.
Joyner in Portsmouth, Virginia, she came
She was signed by the managers of (he
Metropolitan, but plans for her debut
were never carried out.
In 1892 she appeared at a White House
reception given by President Harrison.
A year later she appeared as a soloist at
the Pittsburgh Exposition with the famed
Giimore Band. After her appearence in
the United Slates, launched a successful
year-long concert tour to Europe, includ
ing many appearences before numerous
royal families. On her return to the
United States, Madame Jones came
under new management in New York.
She was taken off the concert stage and
starred in a All-Black show, later known
as Black Patti's Troubadours. The
Troubadours were heard for some 19
years in many western and southern
cities.
The successful and long career of
Madame Jones ended with her death in
1933.
LUCY LAINEY
Founder of Haines Normal Institute
In (Georgia
Lucy Laney (1854-1933) was born in
slaveiy, but rose from it to become the
foiiniler and guiding spirit of the HAINES
MEMORIAL INSTITUTE in Georgia.
1834 SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina enacts a
law prohibiting the teach
ing ol free Negro or slave
children.
1837 Alton, Illinois
Elijah P. Lovejoy is mur
dered by a mob in Al
ton after refusing to stop
publishing anti-slavery ma
terial.’
9 1838 New York City
The first Negro periodi-
cal-MlRROR OF LIBERTY-
is published by David
Huggles, a Negro abolition-
America New York: Pitt
man Publishing Corpora
tion 1967
Ploski, Harry A. Phe
Kaiser, Ernest The Negro
Alamanac New York; Bel-
luether Company
Her academic credits include her
appointment as trustee of the Monrivia
College and Industrial School, Monrovia,
Liberia and her chairmanship of the
Trustee Board of the Iowa Federation
Home. As an author, she published the
HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF THE
EASTERN STAR AMONG COLORED
PEOPLE in 1925, a task for which she
qualified by virtue of her four-year term
as International Matron of the Order of
the Eastern Star.
^ NANNIE HELEN BURROUGHS
Baptist Leader and Educator
Nannie Helen Burroughs (1883-1961) was
born in Orange, Virginia, she went to
Washington at an early age with her
mother in pursuit of a better educational
opportunities, during her high school
days, her leadership qualities became
apparent in such projects as the Harriet
Beecher Stowe Library Society, which she
organized before graduation. She later
left U ashington to become the bookkeper
and associate editor of the Christian
Banner in Philadelphia. She occupied a
similar position in Louisville, Kentucky in
ihe office of the Foreigh Mission Board of
the National Baptist Convention. In
Louisville, she organized a Women's
Industrial Club, which specialized in
offering short-term lodging to Black girls
and teaching them basic domestic skills.
Nannie Burroughs is best remembered
as the founder of the NATIONAL TRADE
AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL for
WOMENand GIRLS in lincoln Heights in
Washington, D.C. in 1909. She also
served as President of the WOMEN'S
CONVENTIONof the NATIONAL BAP
TIST CONVENTION. The convention,
w hich was the principal source of support
for the School grew to a membership in
the hundreds of thousands and sponsored
15,000 missionary and educational units
From early childhood Miss Laney's de
sire was to bring education to her people.
She entered Atlanta University at the age
of 15. Her teaching experience con
vinced her of the pressing need for a
school for Black children in Augusta.
Miss Laney was unable to raise any
money through the Presbyterian Board of
Missions for Freedmen. She went to
work herself remodeling the basement of
a ciiurch. She had many eager children,
but was beset with recurring financial
problems and tuition troubles.
btruggling through the second year,
she manaj,ed to accommodate 234 pupils,
many of them boarding with her. Miss
Laney was able to find a large house
which was deserted. The house rented
for a very low price because it had the
reputation of being haunted. The school
soon took the name of a generous
Milwaukee supporter named Haines,
whose donations enabled Miss Laney to
carry on her work when bankruptcy
tlueateneil. The Presbyterian Mission
Board later allocated 10,000 dollars to the
school once its progress became widely
known. A wealthy Northern visitor then
matched ihis figure in a private contribu
tion and added a piece of land on which a
brick building w as later erected.
As funds became available, Haines
Normal expanded from a single class
room to a prospering educational
community of 1,000 students, with a
number of well equipped buildings and
a large faculty. Miss Laney was impress
ed by the external improvements at
Haines, but remained steadfastly com
mitted to character development as the
ultimate goal of education. "No man,"
she was fond of saying to her students,
"is judge by the superficial infornjation
afforded bv clothes."
SARAH J.S. GARNETT
First Black Public School Principal In
New \ ork City
Sarah J.S. Garnett (1831-1911) was the
first Black school principal in New York
City Her parents, Sylvanus Smith and
Annie Spingstead, were partial descen
dants of the Long Island Indians. Mr^
Smith ihc father of 11 children, was
largely successful, and a self-taught land
owner and farmer. He passed along
much of his learning to his daughter
orally.
Sarah Smith began teaching at the age
ol 14 for the fee of 20 dollars yearly,
which was considered an adequate sum
for the |)eriod. She later worked as an
"u der teacher" in a school in the Will
iamsburg section of Brooklyn, and went
on to become a grammar school principal
in the Borough of Manhattan. At the
lime of her appointment, she was the
first Black woman to occupy the position.
Her husband was an Episcopal minis
ter who died young and left behind two
children. She later married the Reverend
Henry Highland Garnett, who died while
Resident Minister to Liberia. Besides
leaching, she was an active campaigner
for the full emancipation of Black women.
She founded the Equal Suffrage League,
the only Black organization in Brooklyn
representing the the cause of Equal
Rights.
She was superintendent of the Suffrage
Department of the National Association
of Colored Women. Her interest in the
suffrage movement took her abroad to
London where she attended the first
Universal Races Congress at the age of
79. She died peacefully the following
year.
ELIZABETH H. KECKLEY—1820-?
Dressmaker to Mrs. IVIary Lincoln
Elizabeth Keckley was born Elizabeth
Hobbs at Dinwiddie Court House, VA
the daughter of slave parents. She knew
little of her father since he was a slave of
another man and was only allowed to visit
his wife twice a year, at Christmas and
Easter.
to Pro\idence, Rhode Island, as a young-
woman with an unusual soprano voice, a
fine figure, an engaging personality and a
commanding presence. She completed
her studies at the Academy of music and
trained further at the New England Con-
deriatory in Boston. Before she launched
her professional career as the first Black
singer to appear on the stage of
\^ allack's Theater. Madame Jones tour
ed South America and the West Indies
before returning to the United States for
featured engagements to New York's
Madison Square Garden. She then
appeared before large audiences at the
Academy of music and was engaged to
appear with Levy's Band at several white
expositions.
Madame Jones was such a success that
there was talk of having her sing the lead
ing roles in both ADIA and L'AFRI—
CAINE at the Metropolitan Opera House.
>QOOiBOCxi&OOi30000C^>OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOQOeiOPOft>9'OP°PPP'°'P^^°°°°^*
When she uas 14 years old Elizabeth
went to live with her master's eldest son,
a Presbyterian minister. Fours years
later she was sold to a slaveowner in
Hillsboro, North Carolina by whom she
had a son. Elizabeth suffered many years
of needless physical punishment and
misery. She returned to Virginia to serve
the daughter of her former master who
had married. She went to St. Louis with
her master and mistress and there she
became a seamtress and dressmaker to
Contiiiued on Page 4
1776 Honoring America's Brcentennial 1976