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DALL·E 2023-07-20 11.57.27 - impressionist oil painting of a group of black women meeting
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Rare Historical Documents

During our research we often come across rare historical documents about Black Philadelphia history.  We want the public to know about these documents and to love and enjoy them as much as we do. 

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APPRECIATIONS AND CITATIONS

APPRECIATIONS

We are appreciative to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for permission to show Daughters of Africa Bylaws. 

 

To cite this work please use the following language:
Constitution and Bye Laws of the Beneficial Society of the Daughters of Africa. Philadelphia: Printed for the society, 1831. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 

We are appreciative to the Dr. Emma Lapsansky-Werner for permission to show Before the Model City; A Historical Exploration of North Philadelphia.  


To cite this work please use the following language.
Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. Before the Model City : an Historical Exploration of North Philadelphia. Historical Commission, 1968.

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We are appreciative to the Library Company of Philadelphia for The Banneker Institute Pamphlet.

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To Cite this work please use the following language:

The celebration of the eighty-third anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence, by the Banneker Institute. : Philadelphia, July 4th, 1859.. - Philadelphia: : W.S. Young, printer, 52 N. Sixth Street., 1859.. PA. Philadelphia.  The Library Company of Philadelphia. 

ART EXHIBITION 
This art exhibition of Black artisans and artists was held in Philadelphia sometime between 1880 and 1890.
Courtesy The Dorsey Collection, Cheyney University, Penn State University ​​
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BEFORE THE MODEL CITY​
By Dr. Emma Lapsansky-Werner
A study of the 18th and 19th Century Black History of North Philadelphia written in 1968. 
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DAUGHTERS OF AFRICA
BY LAWS
Founded in 1825 and Incorporated in 1831, the Daughters of Africa was a Beneficial Society for Single and Widowed Black Women. 
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1825
AFFIDAVIT OF HETTY RECKLESS

Hetty Reckless, also known as Amy or Hester, endured years of abuse as an enslaved person in Salem, New Jersey. After her enslaver’s mother verbally set her free on her deathbed, Hetty’s enslaver, Robert Johnson, ignored this wish and continued her enslavement. Hetty was subjected to severe abuse, including losing her front teeth due to beatings.

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In 1825, Hetty escaped to Philadelphia with her baby, seeking refuge with the PAS. The Society sent a letter to her enslaver, threatening legal action and supporting Hetty’s claims.

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Hetty became an active member of the Pennsylvania Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS) and the Female Vigilant Committee (FVC). She ensured that funds and resources were allocated to freedom seekers.

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In 1842, Hetty and Hetty Burr co-founded the Moral Reform Retreat, a shelter for Black women. Although officially a space for rehabilitation from prostitution and addiction, it also served as a safe house for freedom seekers. Over 200 women found refuge and support there, including schooling for children and adult literacy classes.

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1782 DINAH NEVIL HISTORY

Dinah Nevil was an enslaved Lenni Lenape woman who had six children with an enslaved African American Man.  She sought her freedom in 1772 in Philadelphia with the assistance of Quakers.  Her case was the impetus for the founding of a Quaker society, eventually called the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, dedicated to manumissions.

 

This document is a request for reimbursement from Thomas Harrison to the Abolition Soicety.  Harrison and his wife took care of Dinah and two of her children, and eventually paid for her freedom. 

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Source: Sword, Kirsten. “Remembering Dinah Nevil: Strategic Deceptions in Eighteenth-Century Antislavery.” The Journal of American History, vol. 97, no. 2, 2010, pp. 315–43. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40959763. 

 

Picture of Loose Correspondence, real 11, Pennsylvania Abolition Society microfilm, Courtesy Historical Society of Pennsylvania

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The Early History of Negros in Business in Philadelphia
by The American Negro Historical Society

This speech given by Henry McKee Minton in 1913 uses the same resources as we do - the 1838 Census, the Register of Trades etc.  - to establish the historical framework of Black business in hte earl 19th century.  The AHNS had an incredibly important function to preserve the history the The Philadelphia 1838 Black Metropolis.  See more about thier actions here and here. 

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The Celebration of the Eighty Third Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by the Banneker Institute
Courtesy The Library Company of Philadelphia
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THE KIDNAPPED AND THE RANSOMED
The incredible story of Peter Still, William Still's Brother
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This story brings in many fo the themes we discuss here at 1838 Black Metropolis..  In particular,  all of the emotions, encounters, ups and downs in the journey of Freedom Seekers as they arrive in Philadelphia.  In this story we see Black community organization and support for freedom seekers in action with Eliza Ann Bias and William Still.  We get a glipse of the regional Black nation as Peter travels to New Jersey to visit his family.  We can almost hear the street scene as Peter first gains his bearings in the Black Metropolis. 

 

We encourage you to read chapters 28 and 29 (starting at page 242).  And bring tissue as you learn how Peter meets his mother who thought she had lost him, but prayed every day to see him again.

 

Additional Notes:

This digitized book was orginally part of Robert Adgar's collection, which is now at Wellesley College.  Adgar was one of the founding members of the American Negro Historical Society, founded in 1897 in Philadelphia specifically to preserve the history that is on this website.  We are happy to have Adgar back in his proverbial and metaphorical home. 

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There is a forward from William Furness.  William Furness was a white Unitarian preacher and anti-slavery advocate who organized Freedom Seeker support from First Unitarian church that was at the corner of 10th and Locust. His son is the Philly famous architect Frank Furness. 

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MEMORIAL OF THE 30,000
In 1855, Black people in Pennsylvania wrote this memorial to the state legislature to push for the right to vote. 

Courtesy The Dorsey Collection, Cheyney University, Penn State University

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CHARTER BOOKS 
1812-1875
Digitized Collection of All Beneficial Society Charters and By Laws
Use this Finding Aid - Scroll down to 'CORPORATION BUREAU'
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