In a 1989 special edition of the Indianapolis Recorder, contributing writer and poet Beverly L. Park Watkins educated readers on unknown figures of American history.
A few years prior to the publication of the following article, Chicago had become the first city in the nation to establish an entire month-long celebration of Black history.
Black history has many unsung heroes
By BEVERLY L. PARK WATKINS
Our city has the grand distinction of being the first city in the nation, in 1978, to establish a month-long Black History celebration. We have heard much about Black people in history, for example Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Madam C.J. Walker, Phyliss Wheatley, Mary McLeod Bethune, and many more.
However, there are many lesser known Blacks who have contributed to the history of Black people.
Among those not so well known are A.B. Blackburn, who invented the railroad signal, patenting it in 1888; J.A. Burr, who invented the lawn mower, patenting it in 1899. … F. Fleming, Jr. patented his invention, the guitar, in 1886. J.L. Love patented his pencil sharpener in 1897, while W. Lavalette patented his printing press in 1878. Quite a list of accomplishments!
These inventions are taken for granted, yet, because they are invaluable to us, it seems that they have always existed.
There are other noteworthy Black people, however, whose existence we know nothing about. Gustavus Vassa was a man who rose from the rank of kidnapped slave to that of commissary of the government, and petitioned her Royal Highness Charlotte, Queen of England on March 21, 1788, to “allow the wretched Africans … that they be raised from the condition of brutes to which they are at present degraded to the rights and situation of free men…” In 1789, Vassa published his autobiography, the first and to us the fullest account of the life of a free Black during this period.
(A black man) helped Chicago, that city with the broad shoulders, deep laugh and twinkle in its eye, grow from a small settlement. Born in St. Marc, Haiti, and educated in France, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable came to America, stopping first in New Orleans. Eventually he built a trading cabin on the Chicago River near Lake Michigan. He then brought his wife and a small band of Indians from Peoria to the settlement. Named Eschikagau, it later became Chicago.
Paul Cuffe, early businessman and colonizer, was one of the most unusual men from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to go down to the sea in ships. Unlike most Blacks who sailed in 1806, Cuffe was no mere deckhand, but a ship owner and businessman.
He started with a small boat built with his own hands and became the owner of sloops, schooners, brigs and several others. The largest was a 268-ton Alpha that Cuffe sailed from Wilmington, Delaware to Savannah, Georgia in 1806, then on to Gothenburg, Sweden with a crew of nine blacks.
James Forton was a forgotten abolitionist. He was a vigorous opponent of colonization and slavery during the early years of the 19th century. He was one of the driving forces behind the Negro Convention Movement which gave voice to the opinions and ideas of free Negroes in the North, long before Frederick Douglass voiced his thoughts on this subject.
The political arena was yet another showcase for blacks. There were many congressman and senators active in the early and middle 1800s. Our first diplomat was Ebenezer D. Bassett. His duties were to execute government policies, and to keep his homeland, Haiti, informed of their forthcoming developments. Evidence of Bassett’s success is exemplified by the fact that, after completing his assignment in 1877, he was appointed a general consul from Haiti to the United States, a post he held for 10 years.
The field of medicine was represented by Daniel Hale Williams, the first successful heart surgeon. He operated on a man named James Cornish in 1893, who suffered a knife wound in an artery a fraction of an inch from his heart. Williams was accompanied in surgery by six of his colleagues at the then-struggling Providence Hospital in Chicago.
Chicago was also the home of Robert Sengstacke Abbott. Although friends made fun of him, thinking him foolish, Abbott recalled without bitterness his long battle to establish his newspaper, the Chicago Defender. His work paid off on May 3,1905. Robert L. Vann is yet another example of determination in the publishing world. He had no idea when he published the first edition of the Pittsburgh Courier on March 10, 1910 that his name would soon appear coast to coast each week.
Blacks played an important part in founding church movements. Richard Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church; James Augustine Healy was the first Negro Catholic bishop.
The history of drama and art would not be complete without mention of black actors Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Hattie McDonald, and Ethel Waters, and artists Edward Bannister, Hale Woodruff, and Augusta Savage. Some of us may not have even known that these artists were Black.
Some Black authors we know little about, including Alexander Dumas, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jay Saunders Redding. Others, better known, have blessed us down through the years with their poetry — Paul Dunbar, William Stanley Braithwaite, and Langston Hughes, whose words are as sweet as honey. We have watched dancers Katherine Dunham and Luther Robinson, and perhaps didn’t know their names, while Josephine Baker and Sammy Davis, Jr. entertained us over and over.
Let’s never forget our musicians, without whom the blues and jazz may not have surfaced. The music of W.C. Handy, often called the “father of the blues” has brought tears to some and warmed the hearts of many throughout the years. The jazz scene was blessed with the musical genius of Randy Weston and Cecil Taylor, jazz pianists whose fingers glided over the keyboards magically. Unforgettable contributions were made by such artists as Albert “Cootie” Williams, Charlie “Big” Green. Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton, Milfred “Miff” Male, Busier Bailey, Charlie Parker, “Fats” Waller, and Billie Holiday, whose music was like angels’ wings fluttering in the air.
There are many who have helped build the history of Black people. As we observe this year’s Black History Month, and all future such observances, let us be proud to be members of the Black race, and let our lives be filled with contributions to our heritage.
