Embedded Files
Primary Sources
Primary Sources
As with any historical research project, this inquiry utilizes a plethora of rich primary resources. The foundational research material includes the minutes of the Colored Conventions held in Ohio from 1849 to 1858. Available through the tireless work of the University of Delaware’s Colored Conventions Project, the minutes of these conventions illuminate the people, ideas, discussions, and debates that drove the activism of 19th century Black Ohioans. These minutes will then be supplemented with contemporary analysis from the 19th century newspapers that covered the conventions such as The Philanthropist, The Palladium of Liberty, The North Star, and The Colored American.
Secondary Sources
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources from a range of historians over time were critical for the inquiry. One particular work that masterfully covers the historical context of the Ohio conventions is Dr. Kate Masur’s Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction (2021). While Dr. Masur’s work will prove invaluable, other relevant preceding historiography includes Jacobus tenBroek’s The Anti-Slavery Origins of the Fourteenth Amendment (1951), Patrick Rael’s Black Identity and Black Protest in the Antebellum North (2002), and Nikki M. Taylor’s Frontiers of Freedom: Cincinnati’s Black Community, 1802-1868 (2005).
Although the secondary sources available are helpful for providing context to the Colored Conventions movement in Ohio, the minutes themselves ultimately shine most brightly for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, no historian has conducted an inquiry centered on the Colored Conventions movement in Ohio. Works have focused on the city of Oberlin, the merging of North and South in cities like Cincinnati, and Ohio’s overall political climate, but the delegates of Ohio’s Colored Conventions are often only mentioned in passing. The power inherent in the voices of hundreds of Black Ohioans speaking about their lives through these minutes should not be underestimated. The second reason why the minutes of the conventions shine is because the vast majority of inquiries into the racial dynamic of Antebellum America focus on slavery and abolitionism. While those are indeed critical topics that demand meticulous attention, focusing solely on abolitionism largely ignores the scores of Free Blacks who were living in an exhausting middle ground between enslavement and freedom. They certainly supported abolition and made that clear in each convention, but they also needed to fight for a status long overdue: citizenship. Historians have conducted incredible research on racial oppression in Antebellum America, but the discipline must go beyond the topic of abolitionism.
1951
1951
2002
2002
2005
2005
2021
2021
Secondary Source Review
Secondary Source Review
The Colored Conventions Project began at the University of Delaware in 2012 as an ambitious digital humanities project dedicated to reviving the histories of Black community organizers from the 19th century. For nearly a decade, the project had two separate, but complementary functions: a digital database with records of minutes from the Colored Conventions and a digital museum of sorts that showcased stories from the conventions through thematic exhibits. In 2021, however, a critical third segment of the project arrived with the publication of The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century. One of the work's central claims is that the historiography of 19th century Black Americans and activism is far too focused on abolitionism. This argument is exceedingly persuasive and encourages a seemingly infinite amount of inquiries that complement those in this book.
The Colored Conventions Project began at the University of Delaware in 2012 as an ambitious digital humanities project dedicated to reviving the histories of Black community organizers from the 19th century. For nearly a decade, the project had two separate, but complementary functions: a digital database with records of minutes from the Colored Conventions and a digital museum of sorts that showcased stories from the conventions through thematic exhibits. In 2021, however, a critical third segment of the project arrived with the publication of The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century. One of the work's central claims is that the historiography of 19th century Black Americans and activism is far too focused on abolitionism. This argument is exceedingly persuasive and encourages a seemingly infinite amount of inquiries that complement those in this book.
Broken into four thematic parts, The Colored Conventions Movement is a groundbreaking work that includes four sections. The first section, "Critical Conventions, Methods, and Interventions," first provides an important background to the Colored Conventions Movement. The remaining essays provided critical advice regarding the use of convention minutes. Rather than simply rely on the minutes themselves, the four historians featured in this part explain methodologies that take readers and researchers beyond the minutes. The second section, "Antebellum Debates," contains four essays exploring the complexities surrounding Colored Conventions, from competition with other political conventions to the ways in which women demanded participation. The third section, "Out of Abolition's Shadow: Print, Education, and the Underground Railroad" is a direct counter to prevailing narratives about White abolitionists leading the antislavery movement. Rather, Black Americans spearheaded the movement with the successful development of newspapers, conventions, schools, Underground Railroad safe havens, and more. The final section, "Locating Conventions: Black Activism's Wide Reach and Unexpected Places," explores the legacy of the Colored Conventions movement.
Broken into four thematic parts, The Colored Conventions Movement is a groundbreaking work that includes four sections. The first section, "Critical Conventions, Methods, and Interventions," first provides an important background to the Colored Conventions Movement. The remaining essays provided critical advice regarding the use of convention minutes. Rather than simply rely on the minutes themselves, the four historians featured in this part explain methodologies that take readers and researchers beyond the minutes. The second section, "Antebellum Debates," contains four essays exploring the complexities surrounding Colored Conventions, from competition with other political conventions to the ways in which women demanded participation. The third section, "Out of Abolition's Shadow: Print, Education, and the Underground Railroad" is a direct counter to prevailing narratives about White abolitionists leading the antislavery movement. Rather, Black Americans spearheaded the movement with the successful development of newspapers, conventions, schools, Underground Railroad safe havens, and more. The final section, "Locating Conventions: Black Activism's Wide Reach and Unexpected Places," explores the legacy of the Colored Conventions movement.
The Colored Conventions Movement was a first in the historiography of nineteenth century Black American activism. The very nature of the work, a series of essays meticulously examining different aspects of the Colored Conventions Movement, makes the work both a fascinating accomplishment and a work with gaps that leaves you wanting more. One volume could not possibly cover the Colored Conventions Movement in the depth that it deserves. The delegates, debates, discussions, proceedings, structures, and publications of the conventions lead to a seemingly infinite number of possible inquiries. The Colored Conventions Movement ultimately enlightens the reader while also pushing them to dig far deeper than one book to allow. I imagine this work will do what truly great works should do: drive further curiosity and study.
The Colored Conventions Movement was a first in the historiography of nineteenth century Black American activism. The very nature of the work, a series of essays meticulously examining different aspects of the Colored Conventions Movement, makes the work both a fascinating accomplishment and a work with gaps that leaves you wanting more. One volume could not possibly cover the Colored Conventions Movement in the depth that it deserves. The delegates, debates, discussions, proceedings, structures, and publications of the conventions lead to a seemingly infinite number of possible inquiries. The Colored Conventions Movement ultimately enlightens the reader while also pushing them to dig far deeper than one book to allow. I imagine this work will do what truly great works should do: drive further curiosity and study.
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