Knights of Pythias

BlackFacts Details

Knights of Pythias

The Knights of Pythias was a fraternal and benevolent order in Boston's small and growing Black community in lower Roxbury that provided effective health insurance and death benefits to widows and orphans. Anchored in its own building at the corner of Ruggles and Washington Streets, it helped maintain the family ties that knit the Black community together.

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Brighton High Valedictorian

In 1911 an African-American girl, F. Marion Reed, was valedictorian of her class at Brighton High School. With an overall average of 95 for her four years of high school study, she was in the top ten of academically achieving students out of 1,291 graduates from Boston high schools in 1911.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Media and Political Strategist

In 1986 the Boston Globe called media and political strategist Joyce Ferriabough, the only woman to break into the campaign managers' circle when she guided Charles Yancey's historic run for State Auditor. Regularly quoted in the news media for her views on political trends, especially as they

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

National Negro Business League

The National Business League was founded in Boston in 1900 by Booker T. Washington 'to bring the colored people who are engaged in business together for consultation, and to secure information and inspiration from each other.' More than 400 business people from 34 states attended the convention in

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Plymouth Hospital - 1st Picture

Plymouth Hospital and Nurses' Training School, founded and operated by Dr. Cornelius Garland, a Black doctor, from 1908 to 1928, contributed to the health care needs of Blacks and to Black community development during the first quarter of the 1900s. The hospital building still stands on East

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Prosperous Dressmaker

Eliza Ann Gardner conducted a prosperous dress-making business in Boston before the Civil War and did the delicate needlework for the first banner made for the Plymouth Rock Chapter of Odd Fellows.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Housing Discrimination Victories

In 1989 the Boston branch of the NAACP won two major lawsuits for housing discrimination . Both cases were unique because they were the 'first of their kind' in the country to award individuals monetary compensation, according to Attorney Dianne Wilkerson, the NAACP Housing Committee

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First City Lawyer

In the 1930s Julian Rainey became the first Assistant Corporation Counsel for the city of Boston.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Engineer/Bridge Designer

Harold B. Frye (1902-1989), a civil engineer with the Massachusetts Department of Public Works for over 40 years, was responsible for the design of many bridges throughout the state during his career. Born in Boston, he graduated in 1925 with a degree in engineering from Northeastern University and

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Dimock Community Health Center

Dimock Community Health Center in the Roxbury section of Boston is the oldest health facility in the city oriented to the care of Black and low income people. Founded in 1863 as the New England Hospital for Woman and Children to provide medical training for white women, the hospital also included

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Secretary of Transportation

Real estate entrepreneur Richard Taylor was appointed in 1988 to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; and in 1990 he became Deputy Chairman, both first appointments for an African-American in Boston. The Federal Reserve is 'the banker's bank,' controlling the money supply

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Bay State Golf Association

The Bay State Golf Association was founded in 1938 by Black golfers from Medford and Boston. In these early years they played at Sagamore Springs in Lynnfield, one of the few golf courses open to Blacks. Bay State's first annual tournament was held in 1940 at Ponkapoag Golf Club in Canton. This

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Inventor of Bread Crumb Machine

Joseph Lee of Boston received a U.S. patent in 1895 for a machine that made bread crumbs for the food industry. Several years later he received a second patent for the first machine to make bread dough.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Famous Restaurants

Small lunchrooms and restaurants were plentiful during the early 1900s in Boston's Black neighborhoods. One was the Southern Dining Room operated by Thomas E. Lucas, who advertised his place as 'cool, clean and commodious. . . . . Good food and prompt attentive service have made this a most

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Black Businesses in 1900

Of the 197 Boston businesses operated by Blacks in 1900, 70 were in wholesale and retail trade, 107 were in personal service, and 20 were in other lines (for example, printing, newspaper publishing, cigar manufacturing, banking, and real estate rental). Those with personal services included

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Martha's Vineyard

For more than 100 years the island of Martha's Vineyard (seven miles off the southeast coast of Massachusetts) has been an important summertime haven for Black Bostonians. In the late 1800s Blacks first came to the island to work for whites and some earned enough money to gain small summer vacation

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First School Principal

The first African-American to be appointed as a school principal in the Boston Public Schools was Gladys Wood. Appointed in 1966 to administer the Dearborn district (composed of three elementary schools), she then moved into the Tileston district and to the Chittick School, serving for 15 years as

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Musical Composer

Henry F. Williams, who was born in Boston in 1813, was an outstanding musician and composer for the violin and cornet, as well as the double bass, the viola, the violoncello, the baritone, the trombone, the tuba, and the pianoforte. He also arranged music for the Gilmore Band in Boston and was

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Ex-Slave Founded Church

In 1871 ex-slaves from Virginia, led by Rev. Peter Randolph, founded Ebenezer Baptist Church, which celebrated 100 years of service in Boston in 1981.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Black Population in 1970

In 1970, 51 percent of Boston's African-Americans had been born outside of Massachusetts and had migrated to the state, and most of the newcomers (29 percent of the entire Black population) were of southern origin.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

William Stanley Brathwaite (1878-1962) of Boston was a significant force in the development of creative American literature from 1906 to 1936. He was a poet, journalist, essayist, and pioneering anthologist of American poetry, writing some 31 books of poetry and prose. In 1918 he received the

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Eminent Foreign Correspondent

William Worthy, Jr., born in Boston in 1921 and educated in its public schools, served as an eminent and significant foreign correspondent and columnist for the Baltimore Afro-American from 1951 to 1980; as a special CBS News correspondent in China, Africa, and the Soviet Union between 1955-57; and

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Pauline Hopkins, a Black high school student in Boston, won the first prize of 'ten dollars in gold,' offered by the Congregational Publishing Society of Boston in 1895 for her essay on the 'Evils of Intemperance and Their Remedies.' She went on to become a writer for theColored American

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Breezy Meadows Camp

On May 1, 1936 the Robert Gould Shaw House bought Breezy Meadows Camp in Holliston, Massachusetts, which provided summer camping for Boston's Black children and youth until the mid 1960s.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Early Black Reporter

Bob Teanoh was perhaps the first African-American reporter for a white newspaper in Boston, having obtained a staff position in 1890 withThe Boston Daily Globe. He was elected to the state legislature in 1894.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Black Nurse in Civil War

Susie King Taylor (1848-19?), who distinguished herself as a nurse with the Union forces during the Civil War, moved to Boston in 1874 to work as a laundress. In 1886 she helped organize Corps 67 of the Boston Branch of the Women's Relief Corps, the auxiliary to the Grand Army of the

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

19th-Century Guitarist

James Gloucester Demarest was a 19th-century musician who taught the guitar and violin in Boston and also composed for these instruments.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Richard Earle Pioneer Club

The Richard Earle Pioneer Club served the Black railway workers in Boston during the first quarter of the century. Providing sleeping quarters, meals, and a place to relax for the Pullman porters, dining car waiters, and chefs during 'off hours,' The Pioneer Club was an important community

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Leading Dentist

Dr. W. Alexander Cox had a large dental practice among Black and white patients in Cambridge during the early 1900s. He was the founder and president of the dental section of the National Medical Association. In the late 1800s Dr. Cox was owner and publisher of the Advocate, the only newspaper

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Renowned Artist

In the mid-19th century Edward M. Bannister became one of the earliest Black artists in Boston to win widespread praise for his work. His crayon portraits were noted for their excellence. He later moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where he became the principal founder of the Providence Art Club.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Bucks of America

During the American Revolutionary War, the Bucks of America, commanded by George Middleton, a fiery Black resident of Boston, was one of two all-Black units. The Bucks of America were hailed throughout the Commonwealth for their bravery and performance at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.

fave

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Science Facts

Blackfacts BETA RELEASE 11.5.3
(Production Environment)