Tales of heroes fill our history books and national legends. Stories about brave, intelligent, and justice-oriented people have shaped the country and its people. Here in New York, we have our fair share of heroes to brag about or bring up at a local trivia night. In honor of Black History Month, I offer up several cultural Black New Yorkers who shaped history and the City we all love.
Elizabeth Jennings Graham (1827-1901)
Around 100 years before Rosa Parks refused to get off the bus in Montgomery, helping to spark the Civil Rights Movement, Elizabeth Jennings Graham was challenging the segregated and racist street car systems of NYC. Tensions were high in the years leading up to the American Civil War. Although New York was a free state, that did not mean that Black residents had access to or had the same liberties as their white neighbors.
Street Cars filled NYC and were ideal for getting around. However, Black People were not allowed to ride with white and could only board street cars with a “Colored Persons Allowed” sign on it. Lizzie was on her way to play the organ and opted for a bus without the sign. The bus driver removed her by force. Lizzie’s family was well-connected, and she took the Third Avenue Railway Company to court. Future president Chester Alan Arthur represented her, and they won. By 1869 the City desegregated all its street cars.
James W.C. Pennington (1808-1870)
James W.C. Pennington was born into slavery in Maryland. At nineteen, James escaped slavery and although captured twice, escaped both times and ended up in a Quaker Community in Pennsylvania. There he learned to read and write. He moved around a bit but ended up in Brooklyn, where he worked as a carriage man and attended night school. Within five years, he was hired to teach school for Black children. He became a Christian and was the first Black student at the Yale Divinity School, though the school would not list his name, nor let him borrow books, and required him to sit in the back of the lecture halls. He was ordained.
James worked in Connecticut and on the Amistad captive case, traveled to Jamaica, wrote books, and served as a delegate to Second International Conference on Slavery in London. In 1848 he was the pastor of the Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. He had to leave the United States for England due to the pressure for abolitionist states to return runaway slaves. Later, James returned and worked for street car desegregation in New York. He traveled and was a vocal abolitionist speaking, encouraging Black men to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Judge Jane Bolin (1908-2007)
Jane Bolin was the first black woman judge in the United States and served on the New York Family Court. She was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, to an interracial family. She was a dedicated student and, after high school, attended Wesley College. While there, she dealt with racism and was socially isolated. She graduated as one of the top students in her class. She attended Yale, faced more discrimination and racism, graduated in 1931, and was the first Black woman to earn a law degree from the university. She worked for her father’s firm for some time, then Married Ralph E. Mizelle and relocated to NYC. There she campaigned unsuccessfully for a Republican state assembly seat. She worked in other avenues for her community.
On July 22, 1939, 31-year-old Jane was called to appear before Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who swore her in as the first Black Judge in the United States. She served on what would come to be known as the Family Court. Jane worked tirelessly to better the lives of children and women and changed several segregationist policies enshrined in the system. At 70, she retired from the bench and spent the remainder of her life as a consultant and volunteer. She died in Long Island City in 2007.
James Baldwin 1924-1987
The oldest of nine and born in Harlem, James was the grandson of a slave. He grew up in poverty and searched for a way to change his circumstances. James spent lots of time in libraries and developed a love of reading and writing. James became a teen pastor for some years, which would come to influence his writing style. By eighteen, he took a job with the New Jersey railroad for some time. After, James moved back to NYC, settling in Greenwich Village, where he worked as a freelance writer.
He moved to Paris and then Switzerland, where he worked on his first novel, an autobiographical work about growing up in Harlem. James moved around the world for the next ten years, writing socially relevant material about racial tensions in the United States. He returned to participate in the Civil Rights Movement, and his call for human equality was an important voice.
Shirley Anita Chisholm (1924-2005)
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was the first Black woman in congress and the first Black person to seek the United States Presidential nomination. She was born in Brooklyn and is the oldest of four children. Her parents were immigrants. Shirley’s mother was from Barbados, and her father was from Guyana. She graduated high school and college with honors. Shirley was a nursery school teacher for some time and eventually earned a Master’s Degree from Columbia University. She was vocal and active in her local community and spoke against racial and gender inequality.
In 1964 she ran for and won a seat in the New York State Legislature, becoming the second Black person ever to do so. In 1968 she won a seat in Congress. She was called “Fighting Shirley” and introduced over fifty pieces of legislation, most of which addressed racial and gender inequality. Her campaign for President faced discrimination. She was blocked from televised debates, and it took legal action to allow her to make one speech. Although she lost the nomination, she received 152 delegates. She retired from Congress in 1983, spent some time as a professor, and eventually moved to Florida.
Alvin Ailey (1931-1989)
Alvin Ailey was a dancer and choreographer who popularized modern dance worldwide and founded the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. He grew up in Jim Crow Texas, raised by a single mother. At twelve, he left Texas and headed to Los Angeles, where he saw Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Seeing them preform inspired him to dance. Alvin eventually studied under and joined Lester Horton’s dance company in 1949. Alvin made his Broadway debut in 1954 and performed in several shows.
While living in New York, he got to study with Martha Graham. He founded his own dance theatre in 1958 and performed Blues Suite and Revelations, which both drew on his childhood in the south. These were wildly successful. The U.S. State Department’s Alvin took his company on the road, performing across the country. He died of AIDs in 1989. His choreography and legacy through his multi-racial dancers at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater have inspired millions worldwide.
