William H. Day
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William Howard Day (October 16, 1825December 3, 1900) was a black abolitionist, editor, educator and minister. After his father died when he was four, Day went to live with J. P. Williston and his wife who ensured that he received a good education and learned the printer's trade. He received his bachelor's and master's degree from
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
. He was a printer and newspaper editor. He fought for civil rights of African Americans a number of ways, as a journalist, teacher, and leader of the
Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...
. He was an orator, making a speech to 10,000 newly
emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
people on what biographer Todd Mealy called the first march on Washington.


Early life

Day was born free on October 16, 1825, in New York City to Eliza and John Day. Eliza was an abolitionist and a founding member of the first
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
in New York City. John, who was a sail maker and a veteran of the War of 1812, died when William was four years old. Eliza was left to raise four children. Day began attending school when he was four years of age. In 1834, the young Day joined
Henry Highland Garnet Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an African-American abolitionist, minister, educator and orator. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was educat ...
and
David Ruggles David Ruggles (March 15, 1810 – December 16, 1849) was an African-American abolitionist in New York who resisted slavery by his participation in a Committee of Vigilance and the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves reach free stat ...
to form the all-male
Garrison Literary and Benevolent Association The Garrison Literary and Benevolent Association was a 19th-century association of young African-American males whose purpose was promoting the abolition of slavery and the reformation of society. Origins This all-male club began in New York City i ...
, named for William Lloyd Garrison, an abolitionist. Soon after, riots broke out in New York City against abolitionists, which required the Days barricaded to themselves in their residence. White abolitionists John Payson Williston and his wife of
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...
, became Day's guardians in 1838. Williston had seen Day speak at a publicly staged examination in New York City and had been impressed by him. With Eliza's permission, the Willistons ensured that Day received a liberal education. He also learned printing skills from Mr. Williston, an ink manufacturer. The Willistons helped people fleeing enslavement by employing them or helping them travel along the Underground Railroad.


Education

Beginning 1843, Day attended
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
and he graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree. He put himself through college by working as a compositor and a printer. He graduated in 1847, the only black graduate in a class of 50 students. Being an African-American man with advanced degrees created a challenge for Day to find ways to be successful in 19th-century America. The
Livingstone College Livingstone College is a private, historically black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Livingstone College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Sout ...
led by Rev.
Joseph C. Price Joseph Charles Price (February 10, 1854 – October 25, 1893) was a founder and the first president of Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He was one of the greatest orators of his day and a leader of African Americans in the south ...
awarded Day an honorary D.D. at its commencement in May 1887.


Career


Publisher, printer, and editor

His first job was as a compositor and printer. After he graduated from Oberlin, he was made shop foreman, overseeing the work of white men. Day was editor of one of the first weekly
African-American newspapers African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are newspaper, news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-Americ ...
, ''
The Aliened American ''The Aliened American'' was a newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the city's first black newspaper and is believed to have been the third newspaper for African Americans in the United States. Its first edition was published on April 9, 1853. Wil ...
''. Published in Cleveland, Ohio, Day used the newspaper to support the abolitionist cause, as in this excerpt from April 9, 1853: "We speak for Humanity. If Humanity be a unit, wherever it is cloven down, wherever rights common to human beings are infringed, there we do sympathize." In Cleveland, he also was compositor to the Cleveland ''True Democrat'' published by Thomas Brown and edited by John C. Vaughen, for a year when he was promoted to mailing clerk and local editor. In 1866, he was appointed editor of the secular department of ''Zion's Standard and Weekly Review'', a New York City Paper owned by the
AME Zion #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
church edited by
Singleton T. Jones Bishop Singleton T. Jones (March 8, 1825 – April 18, 1891) was a religious leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion). Although he had little education, Jones taught himself to be an articulate orator and was awarded the po ...
. In 1870, he became editor of ''
Our National Progress Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...
''.


Educator

While in Cleveland, he also taught school, teaching many subjects including Latin, Greek, mathematics, rhetoric, logic, music and vocal music, short-hand, and writing. In 1857, he went to Canada to recover from an illness and continued teaching fugitive slaves there.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. No. 247. GM Rewell & Company, 1887, pp. 978–984. In 1867, he moved to Baltimore at the invitation of
Edgar M. Gregory Edgar Mantlebert Gregory (January 1, 1804–November 7, 1871) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, a Freedmen's Bureau official, and abolitionist. Before the war, he worked in lumber, banking, and railroad businesses in Cinc ...
where he became inspector-general for schools there, a charge of 140 schools, 150 teachers and 7,000 students.


Civil rights and supporting organizations

He dedicated his life to the rights of Blacks in the United States. In 1848 he was in Cleveland where he became the secretary of the National Negro Convention. In 1858, Day was elected president of the National Board of Commissioners of the Colored People by the Black citizens of Canada and the United States. Day was also active in the cause of the civil rights of the northern black minority. In 1858, he and his wife Lucy challenged racial segregation in public transportation in Michigan. In the 1858 case ''Day v. Owen'', the Republican-dominated Michigan Supreme Court ruled against him and upheld segregation. The same year, he was a member of the Chatham Vigilance Committee that sought to prevent former slaves from being returned to the United States and brought back into slavery, such as the case of Sylvanus Demarest. In 1859 he visited England, Ireland, and Scotland with
William King William King may refer to: Arts *Willie King (1943–2009), American blues guitarist and singer *William King (author) (born 1959), British science fiction author and game designer, also known as Bill King *William King (artist) (1925–2015), Ame ...
to raise money for a church and school house at Elgia in Buxton, Ontario. He met Martin Delany and Professor Campbell of the Institute for Colored Youth in London, and together the group founded the African Aid Society. He remained in Great Britain during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Back in the United States he attached himself to the
Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...
. After working in Baltimore as inspector-general of the schools, Day moved to Wilmington, Delaware, in 1869 to register African-American voters, a hazardous assignment given the tensions of the time period.


Orator

On July 4, 1865, Day spoke before a crowd of 10,000 men and women who had been
emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
. They gathered on the White House's back lawn, where they heard him say: "We meet to celebrate new hopes, new prospects, new joys and in view of the nation." Day's biographer Todd Mealy likens the momentous speech to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "
I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...
" speech of 1963, which was the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. He also considers the gathering of people to hear Day to be the first civil rights march on Washington.


Later career

In 1872, he returned north and became clerk in the corporation department of the auditor-general of Pennsylvania. In 1875, he succeeded James A. Jones as Secretary of the General Conference of the AME Zion church, and he was re-elected in 1876. In 1878 he was elected to the school board of directors at
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
, serving for three years and holding the position of secretary to the committee on teachers. He was reelected in 1881 and did not stand for a third reelection in 1884. In 1887 he stood again and was again elected to the board.


Personal life

On November 25, 1852, Day married Lucy Stanton, an 1846 graduate of Oberlin College. In 1858 their only child was born, Florence Day. In 1858, Day abandoned his wife and child. Day and Lucy Stanton were legally divorced in 1872. In 1873, Day married Georgia F. Bell. Day died in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
, on December 3, 1900, at the age of 75. His resting place is Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg.


Legacy

* The William Howard Day Cemetery was established in Steelton in the 1900s as a burial place for all people, including people of color who were denied burial at the nearby Baldwin Cemetery. It remains a popular burial site for local African-American families. * The William Howard Day School in the City of Harrisburg was named for him. * The William Howard Day homes, a public-housing community located at Reilly Road and Herr Street in Harrisburg.


Notes


References


Further reading

* Volk, Kyle G. (2014). '' Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy''. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. .


External links


William H. Day minister, abolitionist, and college founder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, William H 1825 births 1900 deaths 19th-century American educators Activists from New York City African-American school board members American abolitionists Editors of Delaware newspapers Educators from New York City Oberlin College alumni Politicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania School board members in Pennsylvania University and college founders