Profiles in Black History is a project of our Justice Works Anti-Racism Team. A new profile will be spotlighted every day during Black History Month.
Martin Delany
Image by Jim Surkamp is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
“Martin Robison Delany was a jack-of-all-trades. He was at times a physician, dentist, abolitionist, Underground Railroad agent, military officer, [B]lack nationalist, and coeditor (with Frederick Douglass) of the North Star newspaper. His mother, a free woman, moved her family from Virginia (now West Virginia) to Pennsylvania so that her children could receive an education. Delany became an outspoken antislavery activist and a fervent advocate of self-determination. In 1852, he published The Condition, Elevation, Emigration and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, which advocated emigration for African Americans. He later moved to Canada … but during the Civil War he returned to serve in the Union Army. In 1865, he became the first African American to achieve the rank of major. After the war, he worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau and later became a trial judge in Charleston, South Carolina.”
Learn more about Martin Delany:
Source: “A Journey Into 365 Days of Black History 2018 Calendar;” Pomegranate Communications, Inc and IOKTS Productions.
Learn more: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-R-Delany
Rebecca Riley is a writer and filmmaker who lives in North County San Diego.