Networking Across Differences

Early Black Communities achieved goals by working for common causes across race, gender, ethnicity, class, religion, and geography.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Theological Pamphlet Collection,
Israel Thorndike Pamphlet Collection, Thomas Waterman
Pamphlet Collection, and Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection
A discourse delivered before the African Society in Boston, 15th of July, on the anniversary celebration of the abolition of the slave trade. 1

1796

Darby and his brother Cyrus become founding members of the African Society, a mutual aid organization for free Black citizens in Massachusetts.

Community Building
Courtesy of Boston Public Library
Liberator Masthead 2

1831

The anti-slavery newspaper "The Liberator" is published by William Lloyd Garrison, a white journalist and abolitionist.

Community Building
Courtesy of Massachusetts Anti-Slavery and Anti-Segregation Petitions, Massachusetts Archives Collection
Petition 3

1851-1858

Jonas W. Clark and others petition to incorporate an African American militia known as the Massasoit Guard, intended to protect the residents of Beacon Hill from "slave catchers." Attorney Robert Morris repeatedly petitions on their behalf, including an appeal to have the word “white” stricken from the state’s militia law. Despite these efforts, the Massasoit Guard is never officially recognized by the state.

Agency
Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Anti-Slavery (Collection of Distinction)
Commemorative Meeting in Faneuil Hall "The Liberator." 4
Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Arts Department
Theodore Parker 6

1858

Darby is invited as the guest of honor to the Boston Massacre commemoration. He is referred to as “a living relic of the coloured population of revolutionary days," in remarks by Theodore Parker, a well known reformer and abolitionist.

Community Building
Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Anti-Slavery (Collection of Distinction)
Commemorative Festival in Faneuil Hall "The Liberator." 5

Image Citations

1. Harris, Thaddeus Mason, et al. A discourse delivered before the African Society in Boston, 15th of July, on the anniversary celebration of the abolition of the slave trade. Boston: Printed by Phelps and Farnham, 1822. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress
2. Garrison, William Lloyd, and James Brown Yerrinton. "The Liberator." Newspaper. Boston, Mass.: William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp, March 5, 1858. Digital Commonwealth
3. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery and Anti-Segregation Petitions; Senate Unpassed Legislation 1857, leave to withdraw, SC1/series 231. Massachusetts Archives. Boston, Mass.
4. Garrison, William Lloyd, and James Brown Yerrinton. "The Liberator." Newspaper. Boston, Mass.: William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp, March 5, 1858. Digital Commonwealth, https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/5h742g10z
5. Garrison, William Lloyd, and James Brown Yerrinton. "The Liberator." Newspaper. Boston, Mass.: William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp, March 5, 1858. Digital Commonwealth, https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/5h742g10z
6. "Theodore Parker." Photograph. [ca. 1855]. Digital Commonwealth