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Aug 15, 2018 · Jennings worked as a teacher until the 1860s, then in 1895 established New York’s first kindergarten for African-American children in her home on West 41st Street. She died on June 5th, 1901. “Openly discriminatory practices in public transportation did come to an end in New York City during Elizabeth Jennings’ lifetime, after the New York State legislature passed the Civil Rights Act of ...
- Trial by Combat? Trial by Cake
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- Trial by Combat? Trial by Cake
Elizabeth Jennings Graham “deserves a place of honor in the history of civil rights in New York.”. Jennings’s victory served as a powerful catalyst in the fight for equality on New York’s public transit vehicles, but it didn’t end segregation once and for all. It would take nearly twenty years before all New York City streetcars were ...
Thomas L. Jennings. Elizabeth Jennings Graham (March 1827 – June 5, 1901) was an African-American teacher and civil rights figure. In 1854, Graham insisted on her right to ride on an available New York City streetcar at a time when all such companies were private and most operated segregated cars. Her case was decided in her favor in 1855 ...
- 10Elizabeth Jennings Graham
- 9James Armistead Lafayette
- 8Elizabeth Freeman
- 7Roger Sherman
- 6Mary Bowser
- 5Annie Turner Wittenmeyer
- 4Edmund G. Ross
- 3Myra Colby Bradwell
- 2Percy Julian
- 1Frank Wills
In 1854, 101 years before Rosa Parks made her historic stand in Montgomery, Elizabeth Jennings Graham made one of her own in New York City. Graham and a friend were on their way to church. They were running late, so Graham didn’t wait for a horse-drawn car designated for colored people. She hailed the first one she saw and got in. The white driver ...
Sometimes, to win a war, all a commander needs is a perfectly placed spy. James Armistead Lafayette, a Virginian slave, had the perfect cover. He served under the Marquis de Lafayette, the commander of the French forces allied with the American Continental Army. Armistead managed to convince British General Charles Cornwallis that he was a runaway ...
Elizabeth Freeman’s courage and determination to face her master created a court case that forever changed Massachusetts. Freeman was born a slave in 1742 in New York. In the 1770s, she was sold to Colonel John Ashley. In Ashley’s household, Freeman suffered abuse from the colonel’s wife, so she fled the home and refused to return. Freeman had ofte...
The atmosphere was tense in the meeting room that housed the Constitutional Convention on July 16, 1787. The future of America’s fledgling government was at stake, and the delegates couldn’t decide how to proceed. The main sticking point was representation in the newly proposed Senate. Naturally, delegates from the larger, Southern states wanted re...
Though she never saw combat, Mary Bowser was a spy whose efforts were crucial for her side. Born into slavery in Virginia in 1840, Bowser resided in the Van Lew household. She was sent north to be educated when she was a child, and she returned to the Van Lews after her education was complete. Bowser helped Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union supporter, rel...
Annie Turner Wittenmyer was a social and political activist, and her work has helped shaped American history. She started her career as a social worker in Civil War army camps in Iowa, but she resigned her post in 1864. Wittenmeyer, intent on making life better for soldiers, started special kitchens at army hospitals. In these kitchens, two women w...
In 1866, the United States Government was in shambles in the wake of the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson couldn’t agree with Congress on the question of how to treat the South. Into this strained situation came Edmund G. Ross, a greenhorn senator from Kansas. The radical Republicans who opposed Johnson couldn’t have been happier. Ross had a pol...
Myra Colby Bradwell spent much of her life working to better women’s lives. Her far-reaching influence started in 1868, when she founded the Chicago Legal News, the first Midwestern weekly law journal. She served as business manager and editor of the News, often attacking lawyers and judges for their lack of morals. Bradwell wielded her extensive l...
Although he was limited to an eighth-grade education as a result of racial tensions in Alabama, Percy Julian would eventually become a giant in the chemical industry. His first major breakthrough happened between 1932 and 1935. Julian worked closely with one of his fellow students, Josef Pikl, to synthesize physostigmine, a compound that only exist...
Frank Wills’s vigilance as a night watchman led to one of the most infamous political scandals in American history. On the night of June 17, 1972, 24-year-old Wills was making his rounds at the Watergate office building. He happened to notice a piece of tape placed over the lock of a basement door. Wills removed it, reasoning that an employee proba...
Jan 11, 2020 · According to City Lab, Jennings was on her way to church when she hopped on a whites-only streetcar in Manhattan. When she defied the conductor’s order to get off the streetcar, they forcibly removed her. Enraged, the brave young woman took her case against segregated New York City streetcars to court — and won.
The kindergarten operated from 1895 until her death on June 5, 1901. Elizabeth Jennings Graham was buried in Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills Cemetery, along with her son and her husband. Elizabeth Jennings Graham was a pioneer in desegregation and education for African Americans in 19th century America. Her legacy lives on and continues to inspire.
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On Sunday, July 16th, 1854, 27 years old Jennings was on her way to the First Colored Congregational Church, where she was an organist. At the time, public transportation was owned by private companies, which enforced segregated seating. Running late, Jennings boarded a white passenger-only streetcar at the corner of Pearl Street and Chatham ...
