As a young man in my early twenties I remember relatives talking about my great grandfather, Luke Grady, who was elected to the North Carolina State Assembly in 1885 representing New Hanover County(Wilmington). Luke was born into slavery in 1854. When I visited the North Carolina State Archives in 2000 to find out more about Luke, I discovered that at least fifteen other formerly enslaved Blacks were elected to public office in North Carolina from 1865 to 1898. This was in New Hanover County alone.
Now, I thought, "...could this trend have been repeated in other
counties throughout the state?" North Carolina had almost one hundred counties in the 1800's. It took about a second to do the math. This had implications far beyond North Carolina, because the population of Blacks was higher than that of whites at that time. I thought, "...this is huge", because it confirms that Blacks made tremendous accomplishments establishing commerce, schools, newspapers, churches, and all the trappings of a progressive society, post slavery. Even some whites expressed surprise.
I was now on a mission to find more Black History which has always been omitted, misrepresented and dismissed by America.
This project started out as a effort to unearth family history. Over the past twenty years since I have found many other monumental accomplishments by our Black Ancestors, during and after enslavement. For the purposes of this blog I focus on fields as diverse as science & engineering, manufacturing, medicine, education, literature, military valor, the arts, film making and others. How many other untold stories were out there?
The Luke Grady story continues to inspire, and allows us to share Black History through this blog, The Color of History.
Now, I thought, "...could this trend have been repeated in other
counties throughout the state?" North Carolina had almost one hundred counties in the 1800's. It took about a second to do the math. This had implications far beyond North Carolina, because the population of Blacks was higher than that of whites at that time. I thought, "...this is huge", because it confirms that Blacks made tremendous accomplishments establishing commerce, schools, newspapers, churches, and all the trappings of a progressive society, post slavery. Even some whites expressed surprise.
I was now on a mission to find more Black History which has always been omitted, misrepresented and dismissed by America.
This project started out as a effort to unearth family history. Over the past twenty years since I have found many other monumental accomplishments by our Black Ancestors, during and after enslavement. For the purposes of this blog I focus on fields as diverse as science & engineering, manufacturing, medicine, education, literature, military valor, the arts, film making and others. How many other untold stories were out there?
The Luke Grady story continues to inspire, and allows us to share Black History through this blog, The Color of History.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a good idea that you have to share information regarding family histories. It makes for a more personal and intimate appreciation of each other's story. My roots are fixed in an island culture and unfortunately, not too much has been passed down to my generation regarding the past. Now it is much too late for elucidation. My progenitors go back to the turn of the 19th century, so practically all of them have passed on. I guess it's hitting the annals and ancestor records for people such as myself. But there's still much to be explored about the cross-cultural clashes and insights experienced by a pioneer generation far from the comforts of home and forced to grapple with the hostile Jim Crow society that confronted them. As always, how to prevail is the name of the game - and prevail they did with pride and honor intact. We really are a strong people, but much too forgiving in my view. Actually, I'm still pretty angry underneath.
DeleteThanks for your comments.
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