Speaker or author: Crummell, Alexander, 1819-1898
Newspaper or publication: Presscopy -- New York Public Library -- Schomburg Collection
Lengthy sermon regarding the important role of God and religion in government. The speaker addressed issues of slavery and society throughout the history of the world.
Description of file(s): PDF 21 page, 5,823 word document (text and images)
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Title: Anglo-African - August 26, 1865
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Anglo-African (1863 - 1865)
The writer tells his readers that while the white portion of the population is prejudiced against the black portion, the black portion feels no prejudice against the white. He emphasizes that what African Americans feel towards their white counterparts is actually a lack of trust and not prejudice.
Description of file(s): one scanned newspaper column
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Title: Colored American - May 18, 1839
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Colored American (1837 - 1842)
The writer offers an anecdote as an ironic example of Henry Clay's idea that some day the races would merge.
Description of file(s): one scanned newspaper page
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Title: Colored American - September 15, 1838
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Colored American (1837 - 1842)
The writer responds to an inquiry asking whether Thomas Rice, creator of the minstrel character "Jim Crow," was of mixed race.
Description of file(s): one scanned, one columned, newspaper page
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Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Elevator (1865 - 18??)
The editor tells his readers that the Elevator newspaper is published without a focus on race or caste, but on quality and virtue. He hopes that it will be read and appreciated by all Americans regardless of race.
Description of file(s): one scanned newspaper column
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Title: Elevator - April 21, 1865
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Elevator (1865 - 18??)
The writer eulogizes Abraham Lincoln, a beloved president.
Description of file(s): two scanned newspaper pages (three columns)
Speaker or author: Douglass, H. Ford
Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Bugle
The speaker offered his thoughts on prejudice, saying, "When we are free, men will find it to be a fact that there is no prejudice against color. It is the condition, not the color. My color serves as a badge, indicating that I belong to a race which in this land has been doomed to degredation. And just so long as we consent to occupy a subordinate condition, and submit without murmuring to our degradation, there is no prejudice against us. So long as the black man is willing to be a slave in this country, all is well enough, but whenever he attempts to take the position of a freeman, it is then the white man seems to hate him." The speaker stressed that prejudice is about slavery, not about skin color.
Description of file(s): PDF 10 page, 2,626 word document (text and images)
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Title: Impartial Citizen - April 11, 1849
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Impartial Citizen (1849 - 1851)
The writer discusses the idea of prejudice based on skin color. He compares distinctions of caste made in other countries with the injustice in this country based on race. He notes that in some churches they are told "you'll be white in Heaven." But if being white on earth is comparable to being white in Heaven, he wants no part of it. He urges his readers to be true to themselves and live virtuous lives.
Description of file(s): two scanned newspaper pages (three columns)
Speaker or author: Rock, John S. (John Sweat), 1825-1866
Newspaper or publication: Frederick Douglass' Paper
The speaker addressed the issue of categorizing human beings in terms of race. He noted how "...in undertaking to prove too much they prove nothing." He touched on the history of slavery and denounced the Fugitive Slave Law, predicting its downfall.
Description of file(s): PDF 6 page, 1,419 word document (text and images)
Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832
Newspaper or publication: Non Conformist
An appeal to the American people on behalf of the newly freed slaves for assistance in adapting to their new condition. Almost immediately after the Emancipation Proclamation the prejudice already prevalent in the country became more pronounced and intense. The speaker called for reason and compassion.
Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 804 word document (text and images)
Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832
Newspaper or publication: National Anti-Slavery Standard
The speaker noted that prejudice was related more to an association of race with slavery than to slavery itself. While slavery had included all races in its long history, it was the particular racial aspect of slavery in the U. S. that distinguished it and set it on the road to its doom. The speaker also addressed the causes for the abolition of slavery in England and the influence of the press in this action.
Description of file(s): PDF 4 page, 927 word document (text and images)
Speaker or author: Rock, John S. (John Sweat), 1825-1866
Newspaper or publication: Christian Recorder (1852 - 1856)
Brief overview of a speech regarding the refusal of the government to arm and accept as soldiers African Americans during the Civil War. This situation would alter as the war neared its end.
Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 440 word document (text and images)
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Speaker or author: B. (with remarks by M.)
Newspaper or publication: Northern Star and Freemen's Advocate (1842 - 18??)
Both writers offer commentary on the dangers of drinking intoxicating beverages. They urge their readers toward Temperance, abstinence, and morality.
Description of file(s): two scanned, two columned, newspaper pages
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Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Pacific Appeal (1862 - 188?)
The writer offers his thoughts on the causes of racial prejudice.
Description of file(s): one scanned, two columned, newspaper page
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Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Pacific Appeal (1862 - 188?)
The writer continues his commentary on the causes of prejudice. He emphasizes the this is directly linked to slavery. Prejudice must be taught to each generation since it is not a natural aspect of humanity.
Description of file(s): one scanned, two columned, newspaper page
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Title: Pacific Appeal - April 26, 1862
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Pacific Appeal (1862 - 188?)
The writer continues his commentary on the causes of racial prejudice. He notes that the Jews overcame prejudice through education and acquiring wealth. He views this as a way for African Americans to also overcome the racial prejudice they are living with now.
Description of file(s): one scanned, two columned, newspaper page
Speaker or author: Ward, Samuel Ringgold, b. 1817
Newspaper or publication: Pennsylvania Freeman
Speech responding to a claim made by Captain Isaiah Rynders that he could prove the Negro race had descended from monkeys. Captain Rynders and a man referred to as Dr. Grant were attempting to convince others of the racial inferiority of the Negro race.
Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 531 word document (text and images)
Speaker or author: Ward, Samuel Ringgold, b. 1817
Newspaper or publication: Montreal Witness
Speech responding to a claim made by Captain Isaiah Rynders that he could prove the Negro race had descended from monkeys. Captain Rynders and a man referred to as Dr. Grant were attempting to convince others of the racial inferiority of the Negro race.
Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 225 word document (text and image)
Speaker or author: Cole, Thomas, fl. 1837-1838
Newspaper or publication: Liberator
The speaker pointed out that the history of slavery is not about enslaving black people, but about enslaving those considered unable to defend off a "domineering spirit" that often manifests in mankind. He notes that the southern states had entered the union based on a compromise stating that slavery would be temporary. The abolitionist movement had come from Virginia as a response to this. At this point, the system of slavery was firmly in place based on economics, not on race.
Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 693 word document (text and images)
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Title: Voice of the Fugitive - August 13, 1851
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Voice of the Fugitive (1851 - 1852)
The writer expresses his views of slavery, its effect on the state of the Union, and its social ramifications. The system of slavery has been in place for so long that it's become an accepted part of society in the U.S. Without questioning the moral and ethical implications of this, change is impossible.
Description of file(s): three scanned newspaper pages (five columns)
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Title: Voice of the Fugitive - February 26, 1851
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Voice of the Fugitive (1851 - 1852)
The writer continues his commentary concerning the current debate over the perceived inferiority of people of African descent.
Description of file(s): two scanned newspaper pages (three columns)
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Title: Voice of the Fugitive - February 26, 1851
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Voice of the Fugitive (1851 - 1852)
The writer tells his readers that a Native American tribe is now charging a tax for all free people of color who choose to live on their reservation.
Description of file(s): one scanned newspaper column
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Title: Weekly Anglo-African - April 20, 1861
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Weekly Anglo-African (1859 - 1862)
The writer tells his readers that despite notions to the contrary, the distinction between races "rests not upon ethnological distinctions, upon the shape of a bone, the color of the skin, or the quality of the hair; but upon the common consanguinity found in the equal participation of the pleasures and pains, the joys and sorrows, of our spiritual natures."
Description of file(s): one scanned newspaper column
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Title: Weekly Anglo-African - April 26, 1862
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Weekly Anglo-African (1859 - 1862)
The writer comments on a letter Gerrit Smith sent to the Postmaster General regarding the Civil War, military activities, race relations, and the end of slavery.
Description of file(s): two scanned newspaper pages (three columns)
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Title: Weekly Anglo-African - August 13, 1859
Speaker or author: editor
Newspaper or publication: Weekly Anglo-African (1859 - 1862)
The writer discusses the power of money and the potential dire consequences when money is lacking. He urges his readers to save their money, spend it wisely, and teach their children to value its power.
Description of file(s): one scanned, two columned, newspaper page