William Howard Day Research Paper

African American abolitionist William Howard Day was born October 16, 1825 in New York City. William was raised by his mother, Eliza and father John. Day mother Eliza was a founding member of the first AME Zion church and an abolitionist. Day father was a sail maker who fought in the War of 1812 and in Algiers, in 1815, and died when William was four. As a child William mother gave him away to a white ink manufacturer who advocated the abolitionist and temperance movement. This white family known as the Williston’s of Northampton, Massachusetts raised William. William attended Oberlin College and after graduation he spent his life campaigning for the rights of African Americans. Furthermore, William became a secretary of the National Negro Convention in

In 1878, Day was elected as school director in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was known as the first colored school board member and president. He remained president for 2 terms. In 1879, he opened Livingston College with J.C. Price, William Goler, and Solomon Porter Hood. The college was established in Salisbury, NC, for colored students, this institution remains a predominately black college. Day died in Harrisburg on December 3, 1900 at the age of 75. He was buried nearby Steelton, which is a popular burial site for local African American families.

Second, Martin Delany born May 6, 1812, in Charles Town, Virginia was an African American abolitionist, physician, and editor in the pre-Civil War period. Delany was raised by a slave father and a free mother. So, Delany’s mother took her children to Pennsylvania in 1822 to avoid their enslavement and persecution brought on by attempting to teach her children to read and write, which was illegal in the state of Virginia at the time. In 1833 Delany began an apprenticeship with a Pittsburg physician where he soon opened a successful medical practice. In