Convention of Former Slaves, 1916
The 54th annual convention began at the Cosmopolitan Baptist Church in Washington, with numerous centenarians in attendance. One of the speakers was a preacher named Robert E. Lee, who was a former slave owned by the Confederate general of the same name.
The 54th annual convention began at the Cosmopolitan Baptist Church in Washington, with numerous centenarians in attendance. One of the convention's speakers was a preacher named Robert E. Lee, a former slave who had been held by the Confederate general of the same name and who claimed to be 103 years old at the time.
Stonewall Jackson's former slave, John Jackson, also preached.
It served as a forum for activist goals as well as a chance for former slaves to connect. Following earlier calls for pensions for freed slaves, convention delegates asked a universal pardon for married criminals.
That topic was hotly disputed at the time. In 1899, around 21% of all blacks in America were born into slavery, and the legal future of pensions or reparations remained uncertain. In Johnson vs. McAdoo, a former slave pension group sued the government for $68 million in cotton produced while the members were slaves in 1915. The suit, however, was refused by the DC Court of Appeals, and the result was supported by the US Supreme Court.
Source: Vox
Convention of former slaves, left to right: Annie Param, Anna Angales, Elizabeth Berkeley, and Sadie Thompson. Washington, D.C.
Photographer : Unknown. Date Created: 1916
Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
SLAVES REUNION. LEWIS MARTIN, AGE 100; MARTHA ELIZABETH BANKS, AGE 104; AMY WARE, AGE 103; REV. S.P. DREW, BORN FREE.
Photographer : Unknown. Date Created: 1917
Image Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
The Washington Post Reported on September 25, 1916:
“A mass meeting will be held tonight at Cosmopolitan Baptist Church, Tenth and N streets northwest, to appoint committees and make other arrangements for the entertainment of delegates and visitors to the fifty-fourth annual convention of ex-slaves to be held here October 22-30 under the auspices of the White Cross National Colored Old Home Association of the United States and the National Evangelistic Ministers’ Alliance of America. Dr. Simon P. W. Drew, pastor of Cosmopolitan Baptist Church, will preside at the meeting tonight.
A free dinner will be served for the ex-slaves each day during the convention. Former slaves of Gen. Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson will be present. All persons desiring to aid in entertaining the old slaves are requested to send contributions or articles of wearing apparel to Mrs. Julia Palmer, 1513 Tenth street northwest.
President Wilson, Vice President Marshall, Candidates Hughes and Fairbanks, together with a number of other notables, have been invited to deliver addresses before the fifty-fourth convention of former slaves, which is to be held in the Cosmopolitan Baptist Church, N street near Ninth street northwest, beginning October 22 and lasting to November 6.
Colored people of the District are cooperating in efforts to make the affair a success. In a mass meeting last night at the church it was resolved that all those present should participate in the convention and otherwise aid in caring for the former slaves.
Arrangements have been made to have vehicles of all kinds ready to carry the aged folks about the city and to and from the convention.” - Ghosts of DC
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Article Source: Ghosts of DC