African American History and Women Timeline 1860-1869

[Previous] [Next] Women and African American History: 1860-1869 1860 †¢ founded in 1832 and accepting male and female, white and black students, by 1860 Oberlin College had a student population that was one-third African American 1861 †¢ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, autobiography of Harriet Jacobs, was published, including descriptions of the sexual exploitation of female slaves †¢ Laura Towne, from Pennsylvania, went to the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina to teach the former slaves -- she ran a school in the Sea Islands until 1901, adopting several African American children with her friend and teaching partner, Ellen Murray 1862 †¢ Charlotte Forten arrived in the Sea Islands to work with Laura Towne, teaching former slaves †¢ Mary Jane Patterson, graduating from Oberlin College, was the first African American woman to graduate from an American college †¢ Congress abolished slavery in Washington, DC †¢ (July 16) Ida B. Wells (Wells-Barnett) born (muckraking journalist, lecturer, activist, anti-lynching writer and activist) †¢ (July 13-17) many New York African Americans killed in draft riots †¢ (September 22) Emancipation Proclamation issued, freeing slaves within territory controlled by the Union 1863 †¢ Fanny Kemble published Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation which opposed slavery and served as anti-slavery propaganda †¢ Memoir of Old Elizabeth a Coloured Woman published: autobiography of an African Methodist Episcopal evangelist †¢ Susie King Taylor, African American army nurse with the Union army, began writing her journal, later published as In Reminiscences of My Life in Camp: Civil War Nurse †¢ Mary Church Terrell born (activist, clubwoman) 1864 †¢ Rebecca Ann Crumple graduated from the New England Medical College, becoming the first African American woman M.D. 1865 †¢ slavery ended in the United States with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution †¢Ã‚  American Equal Rights Association  founded by  Elizabeth Cady Stanton,  Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Lucy Stone, and others, to work for equal rights for African Americans and women -- the group split in 1868 over which group (women or African American men) should take priority †¢Ã‚  Charlotte Forten  published Life on the Sea Islands about her teaching experiences as an African American northerner who went south to teach former slaves †¢ sculptor  Edmonia Lewis  produced a bust of Robert Gould Shaw, who led black troops in the Civil War †¢ (March 9) Mary Murray Washington born (educator, founder of the Tuskegee Womans Club, wife of Booker T. Washington) †¢ (April 11)  Mary White Ovington  born (social worker, reformer, NAACP founder) †¢ (-1873) many women teachers, nurses, and physicians went to the South to help former slaves by founding schools and providing other services, as part of the Freedmens Bureau effort or as missionaries with religious or more secular organizations 1866 †¢ President Andrew Johnson vetoed funding for and extension of the Freedmens Bureau, but Congress overrode the veto †¢Ã‚  Old Elizabeth  died 1867 †¢ Rebecca Cole graduated from medical school, the second African American woman to do so. She went on to work with  Elizabeth Blackwell  in New York. †¢Ã‚  Edmonia Lewis  created sculpture Forever Free communicating the response of African Americans when they heard of the end of slavery †¢ (July 15)  Maggie Lena Walker  born (banker, executive) †¢ (December 23) Sarah Breedlove Walker (Madam C.J. Walker) born 1868 †¢Ã‚  14th Amendment  to the US Constitition granted US citizenship to African American men -- for the first time explicitly defining US citizens as male. Attitudes towards the importance of this change split the American Equal Rights Association within the year. Much later, the 14th Amendment became the basis for various  equal protection  cases advocating for womens rights. †¢ Elizabeth Keckley, dressmaker and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, published her autobiography,  Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House †¢ sculptor  Edmonia Lewis  produced  Hagar in the Wilderness 1869 †¢ biography  Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People  by Sarah Bradford published; proceeds funded a home for the elderly founded by  Harriet Tubman †¢Ã‚  National Woman Suffrage Association  founded (NWSA), with  Elizabeth Cady Stanton  as first president †¢ (November) American Woman Suffrage Association founded (AWSA), with Henry Ward Beecher as first president [Previous] [Next] [1492-1699] [1700-1799] [1800-1859] [1860-1869] [1870-1899] [1900-1919] [1910-1919] [1920-1929] [1930-1939] [1940-1949] [1950-1959] [1960-1969] [1970-1979] [1980-1989] [1990-1999] [2000-]