In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's government passed a new conscription law requiring certain male citizens to report for military duty if chosen through a lottery. Wealthy men could buy their way out. Black men were not considered citizens and were exempt from the draft. When New York City conducted it's first draft lottery on July 11, 1863, the anger of aggrieved poor white residents had boiled over. By July 13th, a mob of thousands of primarily Irish Catholic rioters directed their...

By 1840 there were nearly 190 African Americans out of more than 4,000 residents in the town of Westchester, located in what is today part of the East Bronx. In 1849, several Black men formed the first Black church in the Bronx, known as the Bethel A.M.E. Church, and the only African burial ground in the borough. The Black community surrounding the church was made up of mostly laborers, farmers, skilled craftspeople and service professionals. Not only did the community of Westchester offer...

WEEKSVILLE The predominantly African American settlement of Weeksville was a beacon of hope at a time in pre-Civil War New York when Blacks had suffered major legislative and legal setbacks, including discriminatory voting laws that stripped most people of African descent of the right to vote.  Weeksville was founded in the early 19th century by free African Americans. It provided African Americans and people of African descent, a place to live where they could enjoy community, relative...

Newtown was settled by free African Americans in 1828, after New York state abolished slavery in 1827. It was nearly forgotten to history until, in 2011, a construction crew digging on a site in the present-day Elmhurst community of Queens, New York happened upon an iron coffin that contained the well-preserved remains of a Black woman. Forensic evidence and research proved the woman was the daughter of a prominent Black couple in the free African American community of Newtown in the...

Sandy Ground was settled in 1833 by African-American oystermen fleeing the restrictive industry laws of Maryland. It boasts as the “oldest continuously inhabited free Black settlement in the United States.” Located on the southwestern shore of Staten Island near plentiful oyster beds, Sandy Ground was a once-bustling community supported by farming initially and oystering, beginning in the 1840s. Sandy Ground is also believed to have been a stop along the Underground Railroad.

An exploration of what was once the 19th century settlement known as Seneca Village. Before Central Park was created, the landscape along the Park’s perimeter from West 82nd to West 89th Street was the site of Seneca Village, a community of predominantly African-Americans, many of whom owned property. Over time, other immigrant groups began to settle there, though it remained a predominantly African American settlement. By 1855, the village consisted of approximately 225 residents, made up of...

Part 2 of an introduction to the Black elite or "the colored aristocracy" in antebellum New York City that also highlights some of the prominent Black leaders of the era. The Black experience in the city prior to the Civil War varied and was contingent upon different socioeconomic factors. New York's Black elite were often educated, entrepreneurial and socially-minded, similar to the more embellished portrayals on the HBO series, “The Gilded Age.” However, many leaders among the Black elite...

An introduction to the Black elite or "the colored aristocracy" in antebellum New York City. The Black experience in the city prior to the Civil War varied and was contingent upon different socioeconomic factors. New York's Black elite were often educated, entrepreneurial and socially-minded, similar to the more embellished portrayals on the HBO series, “The Gilded Age.” Black high society of the 19th century has historically been an under-explored part of American history, in part, because...

Part 2 of an exploration of Black neighborhoods and enclaves in antebellum New York City during the 19th century. It includes the final years of slavery and the unraveling of the institution as a stronghold on the economy of antebellum New York, due in part to the actions of anti-slavery activists and abolitionists; gradual emancipation and the beginning of the nearly 30 years it took for slavery to be abolished in the state of New York; how white ruling elites in New York worked to control...

An exploration of Black neighborhoods and enclaves in antebellum New York City during the 19th century. This episode illuminates: the origins of what would become Wall Street as a slave auction block; slavery's history in Manhattan beginning in 1636; how intertwined slavery was with New York's economy; the first free black community in Manhattan and how it evolved into one of the most notorious Black communities in Manhattan prior to the Civil War; and how free Blacks and enslaved Blacks...

This season will focus on free Black communities and free Black societies during the antebellum period of the 19th century in New York, specifically New York City. They include one in each of what would become the five boroughs of New York City: Seneca Village in Manhattan; Weeksville in Brooklyn; Newtown in Queens, Sandy Ground in Staten Island; and the community surrounding the Centerville AME Church near Westchester, which was part of the present day borough of the Bronx. This deep dive...

Many experts view the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat as a turning point in the fortunes of African Americans in North Carolina and across the nation. The 1898 white supremacy campaign that led to the Wilmington Massacre was an all out assault on Wilmington’s Black middle class and provided a blue print for the white supremacy campaign the following year that effectively barred African Americans in the state from voting at the polls and participating in politics until the 1965...

Not only was Pauli Murray was one of the most important Civil Rights leaders that Black Durham ever produced, she was also one of the most important Civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Murray was a jurist and activist who contributed some of the legal groundwork to the civil rights movement. Pauli gained national attention during her failed attempt to study at the all-white University of North Carolina, which is when Murray developed a life-long friendship with the first lady at the...

Black women have often been omitted or written out of history. This much is true when it comes to many women leaders of Black Durham in the first several decades of the 20th century, when Durham, North Carolina’s Black Wall Street was at it’s height, as well as Black women across the state of North Carolina during this time period. As a result many Black women have never received the recognition or credit they deserved, in life or afterwards, for the contributions they made to their...

Black women have often been omitted or written out of history. This much is true when it comes to many women leaders of Black Durham in the first several decades of the 20th century, when Durham, North Carolina’s Black Wall Street was at it’s height. As a result many Black women have never received the recognition or credit they deserved, in life or afterwards, for the contributions they made to their communities and society. Much of the work of the late Dr. Leslie Brown focused on analyzing...

The pioneers and leaders of Black Durham during the early 20th century are often lauded for steering their community through the challenges of living in the Jim Crow South while creating some of the most successful African American-lead businesses, educational and financial institutions of the era. The legacy of Durham’s Black Wall Street along with the historic and prosperous Hayti community remain among the more celebrated of their accomplishments. Often absent from dialogue surrounding...

An exploration of the complicated intersection of race, class and politics in Durham, North Carolina. Black Durham’s leaders played an integral role in the “Upbuilding” of their community and overcame great obstacles that were common at the time in the Jim Crow South. In the absence of African American political representation after Jim Crow legislation eviscerated Black political participation, Durham’s Black leaders became de facto representatives on behalf of their community, which allowed...

Black Durham’s success did not end with Black Wall Street. Durham’s Black Wall Street was located in the historic Hayti community. Many community members believe it was named after the independent Black nation of Haiti. The neighborhood was the principal residential district for most of Durham’s Black middle class residents and the center Black Durham’s business, educational, cultural, and religious life. Hayti was a model for other African American communities across the nation and an...

The beginning of an exploration into the community of Durham, North Carolina in the period following the 1898 white supremacist campaign that led to the Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat that same year. The tobacco boom in Durham in the late 1800’s helped establish the city as a center of enterprise in North Carolina. Durham’s burgeoning population in the late 19th century accelerated the city’s economic growth further still, which continued to be fueled in large part by the tobacco and...

Almost immediately following the white supremacist campaign that culminated in the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat came the 1900 white supremacist campaign that culminated in the “Suffrage Amendment” to the North Carolina constitution, which helped engineer the near complete elimination of Blacks from voter participation in North Carolina until the voting rights act of 1965. This campaign would change the course of North Carolina’s social and political trajectory - and result in...

The continuation of a deep dive into the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D'Etat. The massacre was part of a larger white supremacy campaign organized by Democratic leaders in North Carolina. It resulted in the deaths of potentially hundreds of African Americans who lived in Wilmington's Black community, which is were its thriving Black middle class resided. Property owned by African Americans was destroyed. The city's duly elected multi-racial local government - made up of Blacks and...

A special episode commemorating the 123rd anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D'Etat with highlights from commemorative events in Wilmington, North Carolina. Listeners will hear from a number of local and elected leaders in Wilmington as well as a member of the "Wilmington 10," Dr. Benjamin Chavis. Chavis returned to the city as a key note speaker at a special ceremony to commemorate the Wilmington Massacre decades after he was wrongfully convicted of conspiracy and arson...

The beginning of a deep dive into the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D'Etat. The massacre was part of a larger white supremacy campaign organized by Democratic leaders in North Carolina. It resulted in the deaths of potentially hundreds of African Americans who lived in Wilmington's Black community, which is where its thriving Black middle class resided. Property owned by African Americans was destroyed. The city's duly elected multi-racial local government - made up of Blacks and...

Journalist, podcast host and producer, Nia Clark, revisits often overlooked but important parts of North Carolina's history that have played a significant part in shaping some of the state's most influential African American communities such as Wilmington, Raleigh, James City, Princeville and Durham. Clark also begins a deep dive exploration of the city of Wilmington before the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup d'Etat. Guests on this episode include attorney, legal scholar and author of...