NEW YORK – The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum provides descriptions of the Black History Matters free online videos for the first week of February 2023. The programs will be released at midnight on www.YouTube.com/@AbolitionHallofFame.
February 1, 2023: Race Relations & The Cincinnati Riot (1829)
For two weeks in August of 1829, Cincinnati witnessed violence provoked by a White mob that attempted to run out the city’s Black population. A mob of White residents, many Irish immigrants, attacked Black residents, burning down their homes and assaulting many. More than 1000 Black residents fled the city by the end of the riots, some seeking refuge in nearby towns and others fleeing to Canada. The riots were provoked by racial tensions, mainly between poor Whites and Irish immigrants and low-income free Blacks and freedom seekers. The competition for low-income housing and unskilled wage labor jobs led to racial tensions escalating, ultimately leading to violence against the Black population.
February 2, 2023: Legacy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
Published in 1852 in response to the passing of the second Fugitive Slave Act, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is credited with laying the moral foundation for the American Civil War. Written by the abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, the novel promoted anti-slavery sentiments across the country, particularly in the north, by depicting the horrors enslaved people experienced daily. Stowe brought the sufferings of enslaved people into the homes of their White counterparts through her novel, fueling the abolitionist movement in the 1850s leading up to the war. The book’s influence was so profound that it is often said, though not proven, that upon meeting Stowe, Abraham Lincoln said, “so this is the little lady who started this great war.”
February 3, 2023: Slavery by Another Name*: The Convict Lease System (1865-1877)
The convict lease system was a common practice in the south after the Civil War, whereby prisons leased imprisoned Black citizens to private companies, such as railways and plantations, where they would provide cheap labor without receiving pay themselves. This system was termed “slavery by another name” because though the 13th amendment, ratified in 1865, prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, it did not apply to those convicted of a crime. Prisons made a profit by using “Black codes,” enacted in the south following the end of the Civil War. These codes criminalized many activities for Black people, especially “vagrancy,” which enabled authorities to arrest unemployed Blacks. Workers under the lease system often faced inhumane or deadly conditions while working without pay. This widespread practice continued until WW2, and the 13th amendment still contains a loophole that permits the enslavement of prisoners. *Title of Book by Douglas A. Blackmon
February 4, 2023: Moving West: The Exodusters Movement (1879)
Shortly after President Rutherford B. Hayes ended Reconstruction in 1877, pulling federal troops who protected the rights of freedmen out of the south, many southern Black Americans made an exodus to states out west, like Kansas, where they saw the opportunity to own and work land away from the oppressive hands of White southerners. After Reconstruction, many Black Americans, some of whom had only recently found freedom, lacked the means to move up in their social station. Their progress was further inhibited by southern Whites whose racism continued to color their treatment of those formerly enslaved. Thus, the victims of intimidation and violence by White southerners, southern Black farmers and laborers sought labor and economic freedom in Kansas, where blood had been spilled in the 1850s to keep the state free. The ability to own and farm land gave these migrants hope, and they would be known as the Exodusters.
February 5, 2023: Tuskegee Institute & The “Civilizing Mission” (1881)
In 1881, Booker T. Washington, the well-known orator, educator, and author, founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Black American and African students. While his ideas drew criticism from many of his contemporaries, Washington believed that Black Americans should approach civil rights slowly, instead focusing on acquiring valuable skills such as industrial education to gain economic independence. This “industrial education,” which trained students for jobs in agriculture, mechanics, domestic labor, and several trades, encapsulated the notion of the “civilizing mission,” which sought to “uplift” Black Americans after the end of slavery by providing them with practical technical education. Though the goal was to assist them in becoming economically independent, the “civilizing mission” drew criticism for not offering its students upward mobility.
February 6, 2023 “Crimes Against Humanity” & “An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Léopold II” (1890)
George Washington Williams—writer, lawyer, politician, soldier, journalist, and the first African American elected to the Ohio General Assembly—published “An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Léopold II” in 1890 after he visited the Congo, then a Belgian colony under Léopold II. This visit exposed him to the brutal treatment the Congolese endured from their Belgian occupiers. His letter, which openly condemned the ill-treatment of the Congolese and coined the term “crimes against humanity,” was published in newspapers worldwide, bringing international attention to the issue of imperialism.
February 7, 2023: Niagara Movement & the NAACP (1905 & 1909)
The forerunner to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Niagara Movement was a meeting between prominent Black intellectuals such as W.E.B DuBois at Niagara Falls, Ontario. The scholars who convened at this meeting called for the end of racial discrimination and segregation. At the meeting, they drafted the “Declaration of Principles,” which asserted their belief in the equality of races. The group continued until 1908, after which the NAACP formed.
*All photos courtesy of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF).
National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF)
The mission of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) is to honor antislavery abolitionists, their work to end slavery, and the legacy of that struggle, and strive to complete the second, and ongoing abolition – the moral conviction to end racism. NAHOF believes that, by understanding history, the present may be better understood. Black History Mattershighlights lesser known American history.
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