Ray Patenaude has contributed some interesting clippings on New Bedford Black History
https://naacpnewbedford.org/tiny/black-history
For a little background on some of these clippings, read on.
Dallas Brown
Dallas Brown Jr. was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1890, attended school in New Bedford, and later graduated from M.I.T. in 1910 with a M.E. He served in WWI with the 317th Engineers, A. E. F., 92nd Division in France. He was a First–class Sergeant and Chief Assistant to Topographical Division (topographical and mechanical drafting). Dallas Brown Jr. enlisted in the Army in 1918 and his letters describe his experiences as a new recruit into the segregated troop camps and living in France. He had five and a half years experience in the construction installation and operation of engines, boilers, fuel-oil systems at the F. R. Ship Corp. in Quincy, Massachusetts. He spent one year on milling machine construction at the Becker Milling Machine Co. of Hyde Park, MA. He also spent one year as designing draftsman and assistant to Master Mechanic of the Revere Rubber Co. of Chelsea, MA. In 1921 he was listed as a clerk in the Census and from 1924-1926 he served as an assistant instructor at the Swain School in New Bedford. His last known address was in New York City in 1955. He never married.
- Brown, Dallas Jr. MIT grad
- Brown, Dallas Jr. blk hist mo
Juan Drummond
Dr. Juan Bennett Drummond (1864-1926), born in New Bedford on June 7, 1864, was the first African American woman licensed in the state of Massachusetts to practice medicine. She was a member of the New Bedford High School Class of 1883 and graduated from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1888. Dr. Drummond practiced medicine for 34 years. During the early years of her practice, she took care of patients out of her home. Later, she moved her practice to an office above the old State Theater on Purchase Street. Dr. Drummond was a community activist and one of several women who were instrumental in founding the New Bedford Home for the Aged with Elizabeth Carter Brooks. Dr. Drummond was the daughter of Morris Bennett, who was a native of St. Helena, and Maria McCurry Bennett of Fall River. Dr. Drummond was a descendent through her mother, of abolitionist Paul Cuffe (1759-1817). Dr. Bennett married Andrew F. Drummond, whose maternal and paternal family ancestry in New Bedford dated back to the 18th century. She passed away on November 4, 1926 at the age of 62 in her home at 275 Kempton Street.
- Drummond, Dr. Juan F.B. Blk Hist mo 1994
- Drummond, Dr. Juan
West Indies Celebration
In 1899 a Black newspaper recounted a celebration in New Bedford of Emancipation in the West Indies.
- Emancipation west indies celebrated New Bedford
William Ferguson
The New Bedford Overseers of the Poor routinely assisted fugitives, even when they had been in the city only a few months. In February 1848 alone the overseers gave heating coal to five fugitives in three families. One of them was William Ferguson, who became a city messenger in 1874. In 1848 he lived with his wife Nancy at 130 Kempton St.
- Ferguson, William City Messenger
- Ferguson, William underground railroad
- Ferguson, William
- Ferguson, Wm and Watkins, Ben blk hist mo
William Johnson
William Henry Johnson is potentially the first African American to practice law in the United States. Johnson was born into slavery in Richmond, Virginia on July 16, 1811. He was the property of Andrew Johnson. Small in stature, William Henry Johnson became a jockey. Although it is clear that Macon Allen was the first Black person to formally practice law, Johnson qualified for the bar in 1842. However, he was not sworn in until 1865. In 1859, Johnson tried a divorce case in Providence, Rhode Island, and in 1864, he also tried a criminal case on Cape Cod. Johnson was also appointed by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew as a Justice of the Peace in the New Bedford area from 1860 to 1863, thus making him one of the first black judicial appointees in the nation.
- Johnson, William Henry Atty OBIT
- Johnson, William Henry blk hist mo 1994
- Johnson, William Henry knew poe
Knox family
The Knox family of New Bedford, Massachusetts included chemist Dr. William J. Knox Jr., who helped develop the atomic bomb; his brother, Clinton E. Knox, who served as Ambassador to Haiti from 1969-1973; and their sister, Alberta Mary Knox Eatmon, a school teacher.
- Knox Family descendants of slaves
Alberta Knox
Educator Alberta Mae Knox (1896-1991) was the first Black graduate from the newly built New Bedford High School in 1913, when she was elected class salutatorian by the faculty. A graduate of both Bridgewater Teacher’s College and Rutgers University, her teaching career spanned 45 years and included five years at Parker Street Grammar School in New Bedford, where she also served as president of the local NAACP.
- Knox, Alberta Salutatorian
Clinton Knox
Clinton E. Knox was born May 5, 1908, in New Bedford, Massachusetts and attended the elementary and secondary schools of New Bedford, graduating from New Bedford High School in 1926. Knox received his A.B. degree in 1930 from Williams College and his M.A. degree from Brown University in 1931. Knox was as an instructor at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland, teaching history and international relations between 1931 and 1936 and again between 1939 and 1943. During the intervening years he attended Harvard University where he received his Ph.D. in European history in 1940. Knox was the Bayard-Cutting Fellow at Harvard (1938-1939). Knox served in the United States Army during World War II (1943-1945) as a research analyst in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Following the war, he worked for the Department of State beginning in 1945 and would remain there for 28 years until his retirement in 1973. Knox initially served as a departmental officer. He became a member of the Foreign Service of the United States in 1954 and first served abroad in 1957 as the first African American secretary to the United States Mission to NATO. While with NATO he held posts in France and Honduras. Knox became the Ambassador to the West African Republic of Dahomey (now the country of Benin), serving in this capacity for five years (1964-1969). Following his work in Africa, Knox served as Ambassador to Haiti (1969-1973), under the regime of Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier and later his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier. In 1973, while serving as Ambassador to Haiti, Knox was kidnapped at gunpoint by unknown assailants who demanded the release of 35 political prisoners and cash. After 17 hours as a hostage, the kidnappers released Knox in exchange for 12 prisoners and $70,000. Knox returned to the United States shortly afterwards and retired at the age of 65.
- Knox, Clinton E. fellowship
- Knox, Clinton Everett Williams College
Emanual Sullavou
Phillips Exeter Academy accepted students of color, although housing was kept separate. In 1864 three students from Kentucky withdrew from the Academy rather than attend school with Emanuel Sullavou, a Black Student. Their education ended, but Sullavou finished his studies at Exeter and went on to Harvard and Harvard Law School. Sullavou became a prominent lawyer in New Bedford in the late 1800s. Having graduated from Harvard in 1871, he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1875. He served on the New Bedford City Council and as a clerk of the district court.
- Sullavou, Emanuel
- Sullivou, Emanuel Blk Hist Mo 1994
- Sullivou, Emanuel obit
- Sullivou, Emanuel tribute
Charlotte Winborne
In 1939, Mrs. Charlotte Winborne of Ash Street in New Bedford, who was then 100 years old, sat down with a reporter to recount her experiences of slavery.
- Winborne, Charlotte slave blk hist mo
- Winborne, Charlotte
Black History 2006
Other articles on notable Black History in New Bedford
- black history 2006