Library Commissioners

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Library Commissioners

The first African-American Library Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was Dr. Adelaide Cromwell Gulliver, who was appointed in 1974. The second to serve on the Commission was Robert C. Hayden from 1978 to 1980.

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

In 1975 Angela Paige Cook with her husband Joseph Cook founded Paige Academy in the Highland Park section of Roxbury. The academy has become a nationally recognized private pre-school and elementary school with the arts and sciences as vital components of the curriculum. As a unique community

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

In 1854 J. V. De Grasse (1825-1868) became the first Black physician admitted to the Massachusetts Medical Association.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Robert Gould Shaw House

From 1907 to the early 1970s the Robert Gould Shaw House served as a major social agency for Black people in Boston.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Leading Theologian

Dr. Howard Thurman, appointed Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, became the first African-American in the country to serve as an administrative dean and spiritual leader at a predominantly white university. He served in this position from 1955 to 1965. A distinguished preacher and religious

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Poro School and Beauty Shoppe

From 1927 to 1942 a branch of the Poro School and Beauty Shoppe on Massachusetts Avenue, established and managed by E. Alice Taylor, was one of the Black-owned firms in New England. The school had an annual enrollment of 150 students, and the Beauty Shoppe had a staff of 15 professional

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Federal Position

William C. Nell (1816-1874) was appointed a postal clerk in the U.S. Postal System in 1860, becoming the first African-American to hold a federal civilian job in the city.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Abolitionist Group

When a group of Black Bostonians founded the Massachusetts General Colored Association in 1826 to fight for an end to slavery, they became Boston's primary abolition organization.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Black Landowner

Bostian Ken of Dorchester was perhaps the first Black landowner in Massachusetts. In 1656 he owned a house and lot in Dorchester, as well as more than 'four acres of land planted in wheat.'

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Two Firsts for Margaret Burnham

Margaret Burnham, the first Black female lawyer to practice in Boston Municipal Court, was also the first African-American woman appointed associate justice in 1977, a position she held until 1983.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Massachusetts Legislators

The first Blacks elected to the Massachusetts legislature in the 20th century were William H. Lewis (from Cambridge in 1909) and Lincoln Pope (from Boston in 1956), with Pope being the first Black Democrat to represent Boston in the legislature.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Commissioner of Community Affairs

Julian Steele, a Boston Latin School and Harvard graduate, as the director of the Robert Gould Shaw House in the 1930s, was the leader in the expansion of social, recreational, and educational programs for the youth of the South End and lower Roxbury. From 1938-49 he directed the

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First on Parole Board

In the 1930s Matthew Bullock became the first Black appointed to the Massachusetts Parole Board.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Master Artists in Residency

The African-American Master Artists in Residency Program ( AAMARP) at Northeastern University was established in 1977 by renowned artist and professor Dana Chandler. AAMARP has been dedicated to providing its constituencies with the best aesthetic presentations from the widest spectrum of artists

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Trailblazing Dancer

Born in Roxbury in 1900, Mildred Davenport became a trailblazing dancer and renowned dance instructor. Her first career was in show business. In 1938 she danced her interpretation of the African-American spirituals with the Boston Pops. She appeared on Broadway with such reviews as 'Blackbirds' and

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley, a slave in Boston who gained her freedom in 1772, became the first African-American to publish a book of poetry,Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Adelphic Union Library Association

Boston's early 19th-century Black community was concerned with education and cultural needs. In 1838 the Adelphic Union Library Association was formed to encourage intellectual debates and offer lectures. At a time when women were generally excluded from public lectures, the Adelphic Union opened

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

New England Slave Trade

The year 1644 was a momentous date in the history of the New England slave trade. Before that time Massachusetts merchants had occasionally brought in Black Africans from the West Indies; but in that year Boston traders imported slaves directly from Africa, when an association of businessmen sent

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Women's Bar Association President

In March 1990 Judith Dilday became the first African-American president of the prestigious Women's Bar Association. Just the year before she had helped establish the first Black female law firm in New England, Burnham, Hines and Dilday.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

WILD Radio has been on the air since 1953 and in 1972 became the only urban contemporary radio station owned and operated by African-Americans, the Sheridan Broadcasting Company. In 1980, African-American media entrepreneur Kendall Nash purchased the station from Sheridan and has been its owner and

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Outstanding Criminal Lawyer

William H. Lewis (1869-1949), long recognized as one of Boston's outstanding criminal lawyers, was the first African-American to hold the position of Assistant United States Attorney General, appointed by President Taft in 1911.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Bay State Medical Association

African-American doctors, dentists, and pharmacists organized the Bay State Medical Association in 1930 to further their professional development and to provide charitable services to their community. The membership included more than 50 medical practitioners and was in existence until 1942.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Charles Lenox Remond

Charles Lenox Remond (1810-1873) was perhaps the boldest agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and possibly the most eloquent of the Black abolitionists of antebellum Boston. He had a national and international reputation as an anti-slavery leader, and was appointed as an American

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Three Blacks in 1747 Militia

Among 101 members recruited into Captain Thomas Cheyney's Massachusetts militia company for an expedition into Canada in 1747 were three Blacks, listed as Will, Cuffee, and Samuel. (During slavery, slaves and even ex-slaves sometimes did not have surnames, or were not referred to by whites by their

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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.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Longest Tenure for a Black Minister

In 1980, Rev. Richard M. Owens completed 43 years of pastoring the historic Peoples Baptist Church, giving him the longest tenure for a Black minister in Boston's history. He was the first Black elected President of the American Baptist Convention of Massachusetts in 1969.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Memories of Great Black Athletes

Fifty Sports Years Along Memory Lane: Afro-American Sports History - Hometown, Local and National by Mabray 'Doc' Kountze of West Medford was published in 1981. Kountze's book chronicles hundreds of sports figures, teams and events in greater Boston's African-American history.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Newspaper Professional

Dexter D. Eure, Sr., completed 25 years of service atThe Boston Globe in 1989. He had started as an assistant to the manager of circulation in 1963 and five years later became an assistant to the editor for urban affairs. For two years he was the only Black American in Boston with a weekly

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Commissioners of Public Health

The first African-American to hold the position of Commissioner of Public Health in Massachusetts was Dr. Bailus Walker, appointed in 1984. He was followed by another African-American, Dr. Deborah Prothow-Smith, Commissioner from 1987 to 1989, the first woman to hold this position.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Elected Black Woman

In 1952 Madeline D. Andrews was elected to the Medford School Committee. She was apparently the first Black woman elected to public office in Massachusetts.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Elected to Boston School Committee

The first African-American to serve on the Boston School Committee was Dr. James T. Still, who was elected in 1875. He served for one year. Dr. Samuel E. Courtney, a South End physician, was the second Black person to serve on the Boston School Committee. In 1897 he was elected at-large to

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

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