"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : NANNIE H BURROUGHS

The year was 1896, Nannie had just graduated from “M Street High School”( in Washington D.C.). Although she had moved to Philadelphia to take a position as assistant editor at a Baptist newspaper, she still had a desire to be a teacher back in Washington. So, Nannie moved back to Washington to take the Civil Service Exam. After passing the exam with high scores, she found out that she didn’t get the teaching position{ the school administrators were partial to light-skinned Negroes }. It broke her heart, but at the same time,”SHE RECEIVED A VISION FOR SOMETHING BETTER!“ In 1898, Nannie decided to move to Louisville, Kentucky to accept a position as secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention. Soon after taking the position, she saw a path toward implementing the vision she got when she was in Washington. Part of her vision was to start an Industrial Club for Negro Women in Louisville. Nannie used the club as a training school to teach Black women life skills. She came up with her own unique curriculum for the women. The curriculum included lessons in areas such as hygiene, child care, sanitation, hygiene, cooking, sewing and laundry. The club worked out fine. However, it was mainly because of the speech that she made at the National Baptist Convention( in Virginia in 1900 ) that really catapulted her into the National spotlight, and gained her much recognition amongst her people! The title of her speech was,”How the Sisters Are Hindered from Helping.” Surprisingly, In all my years of school, I have never heard any mention of her speech! Sometime between 1908 and 1909, Nannie moved back to Washington D.C. and started her famous school,” The National Training School for Women and Girls!” The school opened in 1909 with only nineteen students. However, by 1929, the school grew to 102 students, eight teachers, a small farm that was used for agricultural training, and eight buildings valued at over $225,000. Nannie’s School provided multiple types of education and training for Black Women and Girls[ from the US and abroad for careers as missionaries, teachers, domestic servants, dressmakers, business women, printers, social workers, and other various professions ]. Nannie felt that she could use her school to help challenge & change the dominant culture of the “immoral image” of Negroes in America. Additionally, Nannie created her own history course that was dedicated to informing Black Women and Girls about society influencing Negroes in history. Needless to say, she was adamant about teaching Black Women and Girls to be proud of their race! Nannie H. Burroughs was born on May 2, 1879, in Orange , Virginia to John and Jennie Burroughs. In 1883, sometime after the passing of one of her sisters and her father. Nannie and her mother moved to Washington D.C. to live with her mother’s sister. During the early 1890s, Nannie attended M Street High School where she met two of her early role models, Mary Church Terrell and Anna J Cooper{ who were both educators and highly involved in civil rights as well as women’s suffrage }. After graduating from M Street High School in 1896, Nannie went on to accomplish many great things in her lifetime. A few of them were, her speech at the 1900 National Baptist Convention, her “47 Years of Dedicated Service” to the National Baptist Convention, being hired as secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, President of the Women's Convention auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention[ she served as President for 13 years ], the founding of The National School for Women and Girls in Washington D.C., and her work with the NAACP( truly, these were just a few of her many,many achievements ). Tragically, on May 20, 1961, Nannie H Burroughs was found dead in her home in Washington D.C. of natural causes. In 1964, the school that she founded, The National School for Women and Girls was changed to “The Nannie Burroughs School” in her honor. Even though she has long been gone from amongst us, Nannie left behind a legacy that is still inspiring Black Women, Men, and Black Youth of all ages!

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : Edward D Brown

Recently, the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby was held( the winners purse for the 2023 Kentucky Derby was “3 million dollars,” the highest purse in Triple Crown racing history ). While many Black People have heard about The Kentucky Derby, most of them do not know that “15” of the “FIRST 28” Kentucky Derby Race “WINNING JOCKEYS” were BLACK!Additionally, most Black People have never heard of Edward D Brown. Although he was born a slave in 1850[ in Fayette County, Kentucky ], he went on to become one of the wealthiest Negroes in the state of Kentucky! When Edward was only 7 years old, he and his cousin were sold to a White man named Robert Alexander. His owner had quite a number of horses which delighted young Edward. Since he had to feed the horses, he spent plenty of his time getting to know the horses.Soon he learned how to ride them as well. His owner took notice of Edward’s skill and enthusiasm in handling the horses. His owner decided to let Edward ride one of his horses{ a horse named Asteroid } in a horse race. To his owner’s surprise, Edward and Asteroid won 1st place! After the American Civil War ended and Edward was set free by his owner, he decided to continue working at his former owner’s horse stable. Along with riding several of Robert Alexander’s horses, he began training them as well( which allowed him to continue to work at the stables once his weight hindered him from being an effective jockey ). When his former owner died in 1867, Edward was offered a position as jockey for a White man name Daniel Swigert. He accepted the offer,and in 1870 he rode a horse name Kingfisher to victory at the “Belmont Stakes!” Edward was smart enough to save some of his earnings to eventually buy several horses of his own. He named his company, Ed Brown & Company. He mostly bred his horses and sold many of them to wealthy White businessmen. Many of the horses he sold went on to win important races such as the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes horse races. In the early 1890s, two of the horses that he owned[ a horse name Monrovia and a horse name Etta ] won the Kentucky Oaks Race. Other race horses that he trained were, Kentucky Derby winner Baden-Baden, Belmont Stakes winner Spendthrift, and the Hall of Fame race horse Hindoo. In 1903, due to his failing health, he reluctantly retired from the horse business. At the age of 56, Edward D Brown died on May 11,1906. In 1984, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1984{ and in 1999, a plaque was placed in Midway, Kentucky where he is was buried, to commemorate his accomplishments}.

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : MARY H DICKERSON

In the past, Black women have made great contributions to our Black Communities and The Civil Rights Movement. Between 1870 - 1914, Black women established many civic clubs, groups, and organizations in America. One of the women who helped found several of them in Newport, Rhode Island was Mary H Dickerson. She was known one of the most influential African-American women and civil rights leaders in America. Mary was born on October 22, 1830 in Haddam Connecticut. As she grew older, Mary learned how to sew and make dresses. At some point she moved to New Haven Connecticut where she got married to Silas Dickerson. Around 1865, at the end of the American Civil War, Mary and Silas Dickerson moved to Newport, Rhode Island( Rhode Island had used its industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials needed to win the war ). In the early 1870s she opened a dressmaking shop [ she was the first Black woman to open a store on Bellevue Avenue ]. Many of her customers were prominent citizens in the city of Newport. Through her business, Mary was able to come into contact with several Black women looking to get involved in different Black civic organizations. Several of the groups that She founded were The Women’s Newport League, in 1895, the Northeastern Federation of Women’s Club{ she started it with Josephine St Pierre Ruffin },in 1896, and The Rhode Island Union of Colored Women’s Club, in 1903. In 1900, she submitted photos of Colored Clubs, organizations, and Black people from Newport to be included in the “NEGRO EXHIBIT” for the Worlds Fair Paris Exposition. On July 1, 1914, Mary H Dickerson died in Newport, Rhode Island(she was buried in New Haven, Connecticut). Today her work serves as inspiration to civil rights organizations such as the NAACP , The Congressional Black Caucus, and The Urban League. In Closing, I would like to add that around 1916, it was a group of local Black women from the “Monroe Civic League,” in Monroe that spearheaded the campaign to establish a library for the Black citizens here in Monroe, Louisiana[ they named the new library,”The Carver Branch Library”].

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : JOHN HARRIS

If you were to ask most Black People in Monroe, Louisiana if they were “FREE,” most of them would probably say “Yes.” However, if you were to “POINT” out some of the “SYSTEMS & LAWS” that have been deliberately put in place to “RESTRICT and LIMIT” their “FREEDOMS & ADVANCEMENT,” many of them would probably “ADMIT” that they are not “TRULY” free at all! To help everyone understand my point, let us go back to the year of “1896.” Remember that 1896 was the year that the ruling in the LandMark U.S. Supreme Court case “Plessy v. Ferguson” [ establishing the principal of “separate but equal” as the law of the land ] was handed down , less than a year before the passage of “The Dibble Act of 1897.” Ok, on March 13, 1897, a piece of civil rights legislation known as The Dibble Act was passed into state law in San Francisco,California { the law mandated that all citizens “of every color or race whatsoever” would be entitled to full and equal facilities of all shared places of public accommodation and amusement }. The Dibble Act was introduced to the California legislature by San Francisco Assemblyman and abolitionist Henry Clay Dibble. Dibble was a former soldier in the Union military who ended up staying in Louisiana after the American Civil War. However, he had to leave the south after President Rutherford B Hayes withdrew the federal troops from the south. Next, on July 4, 1897, a Negro domestic worker by the name of John Harris tried( on 2 separate occasions ) to pay his entrance fee into the newly opened “Sutro Baths”with a group of his White friends. The manager returned his money to him and asked him to leave. Since John Harris was connected to groups like the Franchise League[ formed in 1852 ], the Assembly Club, the Colored American McKinley Club, the Afro-American League, and the Excelsior Republican Club{ that formed around the right to vote and other civil rights issues }, he was able to file his discrimination lawsuit only two weeks after his second attempt to enter the Sutro Baths. What was just important as the lawsuit itself, was that a Black man wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed in! Furthermore, because John Harris went forth with his lawsuit, other Black People came forth and sued, and other Black People came forth and sued! Their lawsuits lead to a similar piece of civil rights legislation that was passed in California, in 1959, known as the “Unruh Act. “ Also, the Unruh Act helped paved the way for the “Historic 1964 Civil Rights Act” signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964! By the way, John Harris won his lawsuit, and even though the amount he won didn’t even cover the court costs,his lawsuit went down in history as “The Test Court Case For Black Civil Rights in America!” In closing, I would like to remind everyone that we need to keep a careful eye on the bills, ordinances, and laws that these government officials and government leaders are “presenting and passing” into law, because these very same laws can be used against American citizens of all races!

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE": William Reuben Pettiford

During my recent research of Black Owned Banks in America, I found that as of February 2023, there are between 15-42 Black Owned Banks currently operating in the United States. Additionally, I found that there are between 100 - 142 financial institutions listed as being “Black Led”(meaning that the bank meets the requirements as being a minority depository institution ). Furthermore, I also discovered that the government “qualifications, definition,and designation” for a bank to be considered a Black Owned Bank is quite different from what most Black People would call a Black Owned Bank. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation[ FDIC ] in order for a minority depository institution to be designated as Minority Owned or Black Owned Bank, the institution must meet the following requirements : 51 percent or more of the voting stock is owned by minority individuals or a majority of the board of directors is minority, the community that the institution serves is predominantly minority, and ownership must be by U.S. citizens or permanent legal U.S. residents. So what caused me to go and seek this information? Well,of course it has to do with this week’s article about the main founder of “The Penny Savings Bank”{ the first financial institution in the state of Alabama owned-and-operated by Negroes }, William Reuben Pettiford. William was born in North Carolina, in 1847. Although his parents were Negroes , they were not slaves. Nothing was reported about his earlier schooling in North Carolina, however ,he reportedly moved to Alabama in 1869, because he wanted to further his education. Once in Alabama, William enrolled in Lincoln Normal School( the predecessor of Alabama State University). He had to work odd jobs while attending school, but around 1876, he was able to obtain his degree. In 1877, William was able to gain a teaching position at Selma University [ where he also took classes in theology toward becoming a minister ]. In 1880, he decided to leave his teaching position to accept his call to the ministry. He became the pastor of First Baptist Church of Union Springs{ in Alabama }. Also, William became principal of the city school for Negroes. In 1883, he was urged by Booker T Washington and other Black Baptist church leaders to become the pastor of First Colored Baptist Church of Birmingham( the same church that would later be named “The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church,” where the four innocent Black girls were killed in the tragic bombing on the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963. The church was targeted because it served as a meeting place for civil rights meetings & activities ). So he packed his bags and moved to Birmingham,Alabama. Although William was a minister of the gospel, he was more than just a preacher of the gospel. He allied himself with several of the leading Black citizens of Birmingham . These relationships and his strong relationship with Booker T Washington proved to be of great help when he came up with the idea of forming a local bank in the city of Birmingham. Additionally, William strategically allied himself with several of the White Bankers in Birmingham. On October 15, 1890, the Alabama Penny Savings Bank opened its doors with William Reuben Pettiford as President[ they later established bank branches in Selma, Anniston, and Montgomery , Alabama ]. It was because of the Penny Savings Bank that many Negroes were able to own their own homes and achieve financial independence! Along with being a member of the National Negro Business League, William helped organize the National Negro Banker’s Association in 1906 and served as its president until his death. When it came to the Black financial movement, he was one of the leading Black figures of his era! One of his biggest accomplishments as president was the construction of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank Building { similar to the Miller-Roy Building that was built on Desiard St in Monroe, Louisiana }that was built in 1913. The building was located on Eighteenth Street in Birmingham’s thriving business district. The building was five-stories high and housed over 50 other Black businesses. Sadly, William Reuben Pettiford died in September 1914,at the age of 67[ and the PennySavings Bank died shortly thereafter ; it failed in 1915, less than a year after his death ].

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : JANE ELLEN MCALLISTER

Most of the time when I hear people mention Vicksburg, Mississippi, they either say something about the “Famous American Civil War Battle” or the “Casino” in Vicksburg. However, I never ever heard anyone mention the fact that the “First African-American Woman” to receive her Doctorate Degree in Education was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Yes, in 1929, Jane Ellen McAllister earned her “PhD in Education”from The Prestigious Columbia University! She was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi , on October 24, 1899. Thanks to her father being employed as a mail carrier, and her mother working as a teacher, Jane and her family were able to live better than many of the Black families of Vicksburg during that time. Also, Jane performed so well in school that she ended up graduating from high school at the age of 15! From there she attended Talladega College in Alabama. Her parents were so proud of her when she graduated with honors in 1919( at the age of 19 ), and became the the youngest college graduate at Talladega! After obtaining her B.A. Degree, Jane accepted a teaching position at Emerson College in Mobile,Alabama. Jane’s hunger for knowledge led her to attend the University of Michigan[ where she earned her M.A. Degree in 1921 ]. Amongst the many Universities she taught and worked during her “50” year career in Education included, Straight University in New Orleans, Louisiana ; over 24 years at Miner Teachers College in Washington D.C.{ where she served as Professor of Education } ; at Jackson College ( at the special request of the president,Jacob L Reddix ) ; Jackson State University ; Southern University[ where she taught piano, Latin, and education ] ; Grambling State University ; Fisk University ; Dillard University ; and Virginia State University. Jane was a tireless crusader for the education of Black teachers and Black students. Along with developing programs for the Universities, she helped oversee the funding for the programs and the Universities as well. Jane Ellen McAllister died in Vicksburg, Mississippi on January 10, 1996. In her memory and for the contributions she made at Jackson State University, the school decided to name a dorm in her honor, and remembers her work with lectures.

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : John Gilmore Riley

For those who didn’t know, the reason why I chose to write my “Our Rich Black Heritage” articles is to highlight other African-Americans besides the ones that we are use to hearing about during Black History Month. Also, I did it to help other Black People to realize that our Black ancestors were more than just slaves for White People, and they had Black-Owned Insurance Companies, Black-Owned Hotels, and Black-Owned Banks! Not only that, but they were able to establish Black Business Districts in just about every major city in America( and many of the small towns). Also, they had their own Black-Owned funeral homes,Movie Theatres, and Grocery Stores[ there was even a Black-Owned Dairy, owned by the “Willis family” in West Monroe, Louisiana ]. Recently, I discovered that there were “8 Black Millionaires” in the state of Florida, between 1870 - 1955! You see, we as Black People need to do as my dad use to say,”Go Back And Check The Record!” When you go back and check the record, you’ll see that our Black ancestors were more than slaves for the White People!Now, back to this week’s Black Hero, John Gilmore Riley. He was born a slave in 1857. John spent almost “50 years” as an Educator and decades as a Civic Leader. He received formal schooling at private and public schools. At the age of 20, he was hired to teach at a school in Wakulla County, in Tennessee. In 1892 he became principal of the Lincoln Academy[ located at 438 West Brevard Street in Tallahassee, Florida ]. He remained principal of the school for 34 years, and retired in 1926. An interesting fact about John Gilmore Riley is that he was one of the few Negroes to have owned land in Tallahassee in 1903. He was able to purchase seven major downtown parcels of land, among them including the property on which he built his home in 1895 { the site of the Department of Natural Resource and Bryant Building and the parking lot of the Florida State University Law School }. The wood-frame home that he built is the last physical evidence of what was once a thriving Negro community in downtown Tallahassee at the turn of the 20th century. A hundred years later, in 1995, his home was converted to a museum. Also, in 1996, the Riley House became the John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture( the museum sits at the bottom of a hill in downtown Tallahassee, at the corner of Meridian and Jefferson Streets). John Gilmore Riley died in 1954, the same year that the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision was rendered.