History of African Americans in Philadelphia

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2023)

|

Ethnic group

African Americans in Philadelphia

African American Museum in Philadelphia

Total population
1,256,908[1]
Regions with significant populations
North Philadelphia west of Germantown Avenue, Point Breeze in South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and parts of Southwest Philadelphia[2]
Languages
Philadelphia English, African-American Vernacular English, African languages
Religion
Christianity (Mainly Historically Black Protestant), Islam, Irreligion[3]
Part of a series on

Ethnicity in Philadelphia

* African Americans
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* Irish
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* Jews
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* Puerto Ricans

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First Black Hospital in Philadelphia Part of a series on

African Americans

History

|  Periods

* Timeline
* Atlantic slave trade
* Abolitionism in the United States
* Slavery in the colonial history of the US
* Revolutionary War
* Antebellum period
* Slavery and military history during the Civil War
* Reconstruction era
* Politicians
* Juneteenth
* Civil rights movement (1865–1896)
* Jim Crow era (1896–1954)
* Civil rights movement (1954–1968)
* Black power movement
* Post–civil rights era

Aspects

* Agriculture history
* Black Belt in the American South
* Business history
* Military history
* Treatment of the enslaved

Migrations

* Great Migration
* Second Great Migration
* New Great Migration

Culture

|  Lifeways

* Dance
* Family structure
* Film
* Folktales
* Music
* Musical theater
* Names
* Neighborhoods
* Newspapers
* Soul food

Schools

* Education during the slave period in the US
* Education of freed people during the Civil War
* History of African-American education, after the Civil War
* Historically black colleges and universities
* Fraternities

Academic study

* Studies
* Art
* Literature

Celebrations

* Martin Luther King Jr. Day
* Black History Month
* Juneteenth
* Kwanzaa

Economic class

* African-American businesses
* Middle class
* Upper class
* Billionaires

Symbols and ideas

* African-American beauty
* Black is beautiful
* Black pride
* African-American hair
* Good hair
* Stepping
* "Lift Every Voice and Sing"
* Self-determination

Religion

|  Institutions

* Black church

Theologies

* Black theology
* Womanist theology

Non-Christian groups

* Hoodoo
* Black Hebrew Israelites
* African-American Jews
* African-American Muslims
* Nation of Islam
* Louisiana Voodoo
* African Diaspora Religions

Politics

|  Organizations

* Congressional Black Caucus
* Joint Center
* National Black Caucus of State Legislators
* National Conference of Black Mayors

Ideologies

* Afrocentrism
* Anarchism
* Back-to-Africa movement
* Black power
* Capitalism
* Conservatism
* Garveyism
* Leftism
* Liberalism
* Nationalism
* Pan-Africanism
* Patriotism
* Populism
* Radicalism
* Socialism

Civic/economic groups

|  Organizations

* Association for the Study of African
American Life and History
* Black conductors
* NAACP
* National Black Chamber of Commerce
* National Council of Negro Women
* National Pan-Hellenic Council
* National Urban League
* TransAfrica
* UNCF

Sports

* Negro league baseball

Athletic associations and conferences

* Central (CIAA)
* HBCU (HBCUAC)
* Mid-Eastern (MEAC)
* Southern (SIAC)
* Southwestern (SWAC)

Sub-communities

|  Multiethnic

* African-American Jews
* Afro-Puerto Ricans
* Alabama Creole people
* Black Indians
* Black Seminoles
* Mascogos
* Blaxicans
* Brass Ankles
* Creoles of color
* Dominickers
* Freedmen
* Great Dismal Swamp maroons
* Louisiana Creoles
* Melungeon
* Carmel
* Redbone

Specific ancestries

* Americo-Liberians
* Creek Freedmen
* Gullah
* Merikins
* Nova Scotians
* Samaná Americans
* Sierra Leone Creole

Sexual orientation

* LGBT community

Dialects and languages

|  English dialects

* African-American English
* African-American Vernacular English
* Liberian English
* Samaná English
* Tutnese

Languages and other dialects

* Gullah
* Afro-Seminole Creole
* Negro Dutch
* Black American Sign Language

Population

|  US states

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* Maryland
* Mississippi
* Nebraska
* New York
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US cities

* Black mecca
* List of neighborhoods
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Historic places

* District of Columbia
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* Omaha, Nebraska
* North Carolina
* South Carolina
* Texas
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Population count

* US states and territories
* US metropolitan areas
* US cities
* US communities
* Places by plurality of population

Diaspora

* Africa
* Canada
* France
* Ghana
* Israel
* Liberia
* Nova Scotia
* Sierra Leone

Prejudice

|  Racism

* Black genocide
* Race and ethnicity in the US census
* Racism against Black Americans
* Reparations for slavery
* School segregation in the US
* Unarmed African Americans killed by police officers

Stereotypes and media depictions

* Blackface
* Criminal stereotypes
* Hollywood
* Magical Negro
* Minstrel show

* United States portal
* Category
* Index

* v
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African American church in Philadelphia

The history of African Americans or Black Philadelphians in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been documented in various sources. People of African descent are currently the largest ethnic group in Philadelphia. Estimates in 2010 by the U.S. Census Bureau documented the total number of people living in Philadelphia who identified as Black or African American at 644,287, or 42.2% of the city's total population.[4]

Originally arriving in the 17th century as enslaved Africans, the population of African Americans in Philadelphia grew during the 18th and 19th centuries to include numerous free Black residents who were active in the abolitionist movement and as conductors in the Underground Railroad. During the 20th and 21st centuries, Black Philadelphians actively campaigned against discrimination and continued to contribute to Philadelphia's cultural, economic and political life as workers, activists, artists, musicians, and politicians.

Between the 1920s and 1940s, North, West, and South Philadelphia saw an increase of the Black population when white flight occurred in Philadelphia.[5] More than 50,000 African immigrants live in the Philadelphia metro area. Most of them are from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia.[6]

## History

[edit]

### 1639 to 1800

[edit]

Main article: African-American history § The Revolution and early America

Slave trade market in Philadelphia

Enslaved Africans arrived in the area that became Philadelphia as early as 1639, brought by European settlers. When the slave trade increased due to a shortage of European workers during the 1750s and 1760s, approximately one to five hundred Africans were sent to Philadelphia each year. In 1765, there were roughly fifteen hundred Black Philadelphians; of these, one hundred were free. By the time the American Revolution broke out in 1775, enslaved individuals were one-twelfth of the roughly sixteen thousand people who lived in Philadelphia.[7]

Absalom Jones, founder of the Free African Society

Black people served on both the Loyalist and Patriot sides during the American Revolution. Two of the individuals supporting the Patriot side were Cyrus Bustill, who worked as a ship's baker during the Revolution and later became a prominent Philadelphia businessman and activist, and James Forten, who served on a privateer at the age of fourteen and became a wealthy sailmaker and abolitionist.

The Pennsylvania Abolition Society was founded by white Quakers in 1775 and eventually became a biracial organization.[8][9] In 1780, a policy of gradual emancipation was instituted in Pennsylvania. During this period, enslaved people were freed through manumission; others managed to escape or buy their own freedom. By 1783, the free Black community in Philadelphia surpassed one thousand residents, while four hundred residents remained enslaved.

Richard Allen and Absolom Jones founded the Free African Society in 1787, a mutual aid society, and Allen, with his wife Sarah Allen, established the Bethel African Methodist Church in 1794.[10] During the 1793 Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic, Black residents were mistakenly believed to be immune to the disease, so they worked as carriers of the dead and tended to the sick and dying inside their homes.[11] Kidnapping of free Black residents to be sold back into slavery was a risk that continued into the 19th century, especially for children.[12]

James Forten funded the abolitionist newspaper the Liberator

The Quakers established a Burying Place For All Free Negroes or People of Color in Byberry Township. This African Burial Ground remains an obscure anomaly, largely forgotten today although it was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.[13]

Most of the Black population in Philadelphia were living as freemen and women by 1811, although some remained enslaved until the 1840s. The free community was joined by runaways from the South and refugees from the Haitian Revolution.

### 1800 to Civil War

[edit]

Main article: History of slavery in Pennsylvania

The growing free Black community was instrumental in making Philadelphia a hotbed of abolitionism by the 1830s. Wealthy Black entrepreneur James Forten gave white abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison funding so he could start the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator and contributed articles to it.[7] Black activists were founders and members of the national biracial group the American Anti-Slavery Society, created in Philadelphia in 1833, and the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, created in 1838. In December 1833, after women were excluded from the American Anti-Slavery Society, a group of black and white women, which included Cyril Bustil's daughter Grace Douglass, and James Forten's daughters, Sarah, Harriet and Margaretta launched the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS).[14]

While some African Americans in Philadelphia worked in professional jobs that catered to the Black community like teachers, doctors, ministers, barbers, caterers, and entrepreneurs, most Black Philadelphians at that time worked at physically demanding and low-paying jobs. They competed with working class whites, especially new Irish immigrants, for jobs, which led to racial conflict. In 1834, a race riot broke out at a local tavern that was popular with both black and white Philadelphians. A white mob attacked Black homes, businesses, and churches. In 1838, another white mob attacked Pennsylvania Hall, where black and white abolitionists were meeting, and burned it down. Also in 1838, Pennsylvania's newly ratified constitution officially disfranchised African Americans.[7] In 1842, white mobs again attacked blacks during the Lombard Street Riots.

Despite the risks and racism they encountered, African-Americans continued to come to Philadelphia, since it was the closest major city to the Southern States, where slavery was still legal. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Philadelphia had the largest black population outside the slave states. There were 15,000 black Philadelphians in 1830, 20,000 by 1850, and 22,000 by 1860. Most lived in South Philadelphia near what is today Center City, but there were smaller populations in Northern Liberties, Kensington, and Spring Garden. They came because of Philadelphia's reputation as a thriving political, cultural, and economic center for African Americans.[15]

The city was also a major stop on the Underground Railroad, especially for slaves escaping through Maryland and Delaware.[7] Robert Purvis, president of the biracial Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society from 1845 to 1850, was also chairman of the General Vigilance Committee from 1852 to 1857, which gave direct aid to fugitive slaves. With his wife Harriet Forten Purvis, he worked as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. Purvis estimated that from 1831 to 1861, they helped one slave per day achieve freedom, assisting more than 9,000 slaves to escape to the North. They used their own house, then located outside the city, in Byberry Township, as a place where fugitives could hide.[16] Purvis built Byberry Hall across the street from his home, on the edge of the Quaker-owned Byberry Friends Meeting campus, to host anti-slavery speakers. It still stands today.[17]

### Civil War to 1900

[edit]

During the Civil War, eleven African American Philadelphia regiments fought for the North, after the passage of the 1862 Second Militia Act allowing blacks to be enlist in the Army.[18]

After the Civil War, African Americans in Philadelphia, including Octavius V. Catto (1839–1871), organized to end segregation of the city's schools and streetcars and regain the right to vote. Their efforts paid off; in 1867, streetcar segregation was ended throughout the state, and legal segregation of schools ended in 1881 (although de facto segregation continued into the 20th century). The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave Pennsylvania Black Americans the right to vote in 1870. But Catto himself was shot and killed while trying to cast his ballot in 1871.[19]

In 1879, painter Henry Ossawa Tanner enrolled as the first African American student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After travels abroad, he would return to Philadelphia in 1893 to paint his most famous work, The Banjo Lesson.[20] Also in 1893, Philadelphia high school student Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller created an art project that was included in The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and led to her future success as a multi-disciplinary artist.[21]

The Black population rose to nearly 32,000 in 1880. In 1884, there were approximately 300 black-owned businesses, including the Philadelphia Tribune (started in 1884) and Douglas Hospital (opened in 1895). By 1900, the Black population at 63,000 people, had nearly doubled.[22]

Poet, suffragist and abolitionist Frances Harper

In 1896, Philadelphia poet, suffragist, and abolitionist Frances Harper helped found the National Association of Colored Women and served as its vice president.[23] By then, she had already had a long career as a published writer, including works like her poem  Bury Me In a Free Land, Sketches of Southern Life, and the novel Iola Leroy.

Published in 1899 by the University of Pennsylvania and conducted by W. E. B. Du Bois, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study was the first sociological race study of the African American community in the United States.[24] The aim of the social study was to identify "The Negro Problems of Philadelphia," the problems facing black communities not only in Philadelphia, but all over the country as well.[25] The study focused on Philadelphia's Seventh Ward (currently Center City Philadelphia) and the socioeconomic conditions of black churches, businesses and homes within the neighborhood. Using statistics Du Bois created from his survey data, Du Bois compared the occupation, income, education, family size, health, drug use, criminal activity, and suffrage of black and white residents living in the Seventh Ward and to Philadelphia's other wards.[26] Du Bois used statistical evidence to highlight the socioeconomic inequalities the black community faced and make the black community's suffrage known to whites. In turn, he disproved stereotypes surrounding the black community which were cited as the sources of "The Negro Problem."[26]

### 1900 to 1950s

[edit]

John T. Gibson owned the Standard Theatre in Philadelphia PA (1919)

World War I brought an influx of black migrants from the rural South, who moved to Philadelphia lured by wartime jobs there during the Great Migration. As a result, the black population of Philadelphia doubled again from 63,000 in 1900 to 134,000 in 1920.Most of the new residents came from rural backgrounds and were working poor.[27]

Efforts to build new structures to house the workers were insufficient, so African Americans in search of housing moved into existing houses in white neighborhoods, where they encountered hostility and racism. In July 1918, after two black families on Pine Street were attacked by white neighbors who burned household furnishings, G. Grant Williams, editor of the Philadelphia Tribune, wrote of the "Pine Street war Zone": "We stand for peace," he said, and advised Black residents to "stand your ground like men," adding “You are not down in Dixie now and you need not fear the ragged rum crazed hellion crew... They may burn your property, but you burn their hides with any weapon that comes handy while they engage in this illegal pastime."[28]

Three weeks later, racial violence erupted again which lasted for several days. During the riot, black homes were destroyed by white mobs, three people were killed, one man was nearly lynched, and a white police officer beat up a black man while he was in the hospital. As a result, African Americans in Philadelphia formed the Colored Protective Association, led by Reverend RR Wright Jr., to "have a permanent organization of protection" to fight discrimination in schools, housing, employment and elsewhere, and to investigate cases of police brutality and police collusion with the white rioters. Their efforts eventually led to the removal of the entire police force by the Director of Public Safety.[29]

Crystal Bird Fauset, first Black female state legislator, elected 1938

In 1925, the artist and printmaker Dox Thrash moved to Philadelphia, where he would spend most of his career.[30] Black Opals, an African American literary magazine associated with the Harlem Renaissance was published in Philadelphia between spring 1927 and July 1928,.[31] Co-edited by Arthur Huff Fauset and Nellie Rathbone Bright, the magazine's contributors included Mae Virginia Cowdery, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Marita Bonner, and Gwendolyn B. Bennett. Allan Randall Freelon was the magazine's artistic director.[32] Also in the 1920s, John T Gibson became the wealthiest Black entrepreneur in Philadelphia because of his ownership of the popular Standard and Dunbar theaters and his management of diverse musical and vaudeville acts.[33]

The Great Depression hit Black Philadelphians hard. By 1933, 50% of all Black residents were unemployed.[34] And yet by 1935, African Americans owned 9,855 homes and 787 stores; they were also working in more professional occupations, like physicians ( 200); clergymen ( 250); schoolteachers (553) and policemen ( 219). Their neighborhoods were also becoming more concentrated and more segregated from white neighborhoods.[35]

In 1938, Crystal Bird Fauset became the first female African American elected as state legislator.

Though World War II brought wartime jobs to African Americans, they still faced substandard housing and were not allowed to work on Philadelphia public transit as motormen or conductors until the Federal Government stepped in to pressure the Philadelphia Transportation Company to open up these jobs to them in 1944. From August 1–6, white transit workers responded by staging a massive sickout strike. After pressure from the NAACP, the Federal Government sent in 5,000 troops to break the strike and keep public transportation running.[36]

Philadelphia was a center for the mid twentieth century Golden Age of Gospel music, attracting performers like the nationally renowned male quartets the Dixie Hummingbirds  and the Sensational Nightingales, as well as Marion Williams before she started her solo career.[37]

### 1950s to present

[edit]

Mumia Abu-Jamal c. 1980

The fight against discrimination and segregation in education and employment continued through the 1950s and 60s, with legal battles and protests occurring throughout those years. Cecil B. Moore, president of the local NAACP, was a leading activist during that time, and Reverend Leon Sullivan was instrumental in building Black community and economic power. Marie Hicks successfully organized demonstrations and brought a lawsuit against Girard College to desegregate that institution.[38] In 1964, a clash between police officers and residents sparked a three-day riot.[39]

The 1960s saw a rise in the Black Power movement in Philadelphia. Freedom Library on Ridge Avenue in North Philadelphia, started in 1964 by John Churchville, was where Churchville and other activists gathered to form the Black Power Unity Movement in 1965. Another important center of Black Power was The Church of the Advocate in North Central Philadelphia, whose congregation had become increasingly African American. Father Paul Washington organized the first Black Power rally in 1966; soon there were rallies all over the city, and the third national conference in Philadelphia attracted 2,000 people. The newspaper Voice of Umuja came out of the conference.[40]

Reggie Schell became the leader of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1969. Under his leadership, the party held rallies and created food distribution and education programs throughout the city. Black Power spilled onto college and high school campuses, where students demonstrated for more Black faculty and Black studies classes. In 1970, Philadelphia police raids of three offices of Black Power activists at gunpoint, in which they publicly strip searched activists, made international news for their brutality and united the black community in outrage. Later that year, the Panther sponsored Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention was held at Temple College and attracted 14,000 people.[40]

Philadelphia-born Jill Scott performs in 2012

Philadelphia soul was a genre of music that arose in the late 1960s and 1970s. Influenced by funk, it was characterized by lush instrumental arrangements with sweeping strings and piercing horns. Fred Wesley described it as "putting the bow tie on funk". It moved funk more towards the disco sound that would become popular in the late 1970s and influenced later Philadelphia-born music makers like singer Jill Scott.[41][42]

Predominantly Black group MOVE was founded in 1972 by John Africa. The organization lived in a communal setting in West Philadelphia, following philosophies of anarcho-primitivism.[43] In 1978, a standoff between MOVE and the Philadelphia police resulted in the death of one police officer and injuries to sixteen officers and firefighters. Nine members were convicted of killing the officer and received life sentences. In 1985, another conflict resulted in a police helicopter dropping a bomb onto the roof of the MOVE compound, a townhouse that was located at 6221 Osage Avenue.[44][45] The ensuing fire killed six MOVE members, and five of their children, and destroyed sixty-five houses in the neighborhood. The police bombing was strongly condemned. The MOVE survivors later filed a civil suit against the City of Philadelphia and the PPD and were awarded $1.5 million in a 1996 settlement.[46] Other residents displaced by the destruction of the bombing filed a civil suit against the city and in 2005 were awarded $12.72 million in damages in a jury trial.[47]

In 1982, Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Philadelphia activist and journalist, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder in Philadelphia of police officer Daniel Faulkner. He became widely known while on death row for his writings and commentary on the U.S. criminal justice system. After numerous appeals, his death penalty sentence was overturned by a Federal court, with the prosecution agreeing in 2011 to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.[48]

Many Philadelphia activists of the mid to late 20th century went on to achieve political power. In 1975, Cecile B. Moore won a seat on the City Council. C. Delores Tucker (1927–2005) became the first black Pennsylvanian appointed to the office of the secretary of state. David P. Richardson (1948–1995) was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1972. In 1984, W. Wilson Goode (b. 1938) became Philadelphia's first black mayor. Goode's administration was followed by black mayors John Street (b. 1943) and Michael Nutter (b. 1957).[49]

Many black Philadelphia natives have moved to the suburbs or to Southern cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, Memphis, San Antonio and Jackson.[50][51]

Despite the persistence of problems like unemployment and high public school dropout rates, the black community in Philadelphia in the early 21st century continued to attract new residents and contribute its talents and energy to the city. In 2010, its total population stood at 657,343 people or 43.4 percent of Philadelphia's entire population.[22]

## Institutions

[edit]

Henry Ossawa Tanner painted his most famous work, The Banjo Lesson, in 1893 in Philadelphia

The African American Museum in Philadelphia is located in Center City.

The Aces Museum honors WWII veterans and their families.

The Colored Girls Museum, founded by Vashti DuBois, is dedicated to the history of Black women and girls.[52]

The National Marian Anderson Museum celebrates the life of the notable opera singer Marian Anderson.

The Paul Robeson House hosts tours of Robeson's former residence.[53]

## Geography

[edit]

### 20th century

[edit]

Circa 1961 Society Hill was a majority black and low income neighborhood, but by 1976 it became gentrified and mostly white with the remaining black population residing in about three or four high-rise apartment buildings with high rents. Black Enterprise wrote that a possible reason why wealthier blacks opted not to move to Society Hill was "Unpleasant memories of the old neighborhood".[54] By then many blacks were moving to Wynnefield, with many originating from Cobbs Creek and Overbrook; the new residents of Wynnefield had recently become middle class.[54] Also Circa 1976 many African-Americans resided in Powelton Village. The majority originated from other states and held professional positions, including artists, graduate students, musicians, teachers, and writers.[54]

### 21st century

[edit]

From 1990 to 2010, black residents moved in significant numbers away from the core areas of North and West Philadelphia to Southwest Philadelphia, Overbrook, the Lower Northeast, and elsewhere. The number of Black residents in zip code 19120—which includes the neighborhoods of Olney and Feltonville and abuts Montgomery County -rose from 9,786 in 1990 to 33,209 in 2010, an increase of 239 percent.[55]

## Religion

[edit]

An 1829 image of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas

The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, established in 1792, was the first house of worship created by and for black people in the United States. While the St. George's United Methodist Church had initially allowed Black worshipers in the main area, its Black worshipers left after the church moved them to the gallery area by 1787.[56]

## Education

[edit]

The first school for black males was established by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1794. In 1813, the Society constructed the school building Clarkson Hall on Cherry Street, and in 1854, created Lombard Street Infant School as an aid to working parents.[57]

In 1976, 66% of all students of the School District of Philadelphia were black; this number was proportionally high since whites of all economic backgrounds had a tendency to use private schools. Wealthier blacks chose not to use private schools because their neighborhoods were assigned to higher-quality public schools.[54]

## Crime

[edit]

Further information: Crime in Philadelphia

Black people in Philadelphia are more likely to be charged with felonies than non-blacks.[58] The homicide victim rate for black people in Philadelphia is also higher.[59]

## Notable residents

[edit]

Richard Allen (1760–1831), a Methodist bishop and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Octavius Catto, voting rights activist, was killed while trying to cast his ballot Astronaut Guion Bluford, born and raised in Philadelphia Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter Billie Holiday spent her childhood in Philadelphia

### 18th–19th centuries

[edit]

* Richard Allen, religious leader, author, journalist[60]
* Sarah Allen, abolitionist, underground railroad conductor, missionary[61]
* Cyrus Bustill, 18th century entrepreneur, abolitionist and community leader[62]
* Jabez Pitt Campbell, abolitionist, and the 8th Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church[63]
* Amy Matilda Cassey, activist, and abolitionist[64]
* Joseph Cassey, businessman, abolitionist, and activist[65]
* Octavius Catto, educator and Civil Rights activist[66]
* Rebecca Cole, doctor and social reformer[67]
* Rebecca Cox Jackson, founder of a Shaker community in Philadelphia[68]
* Nathaniel W. Depee, activist, and abolitionist[69]
* Frederick Douglass, social reformer, writer, and abolitionist
* Charlotte Vandine Forten, abolitionist[70]
* James Forten, early 19th century businessman and abolitionist[71]
* Margaretta Forten, suffragist and abolitionist[72]
* Grace Douglass, abolitionist[73]
* Sarah Mapps Douglass, 19th century educator[74][75]
* Richard Theodore Greener, professor, lawyer, scholar[76]
* Charlotte Forten Grimké, 19th century civil rights activist, woman's rights activist[77]
* Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, abolitionist, suffragette, poet, author[78]
* Jarena Lee, preacher[79]
* Absalom Jones, minister, abolitionist, and founder of Free African Society[80]
* John McKee, philanthropist, property owner[81]
* Zedekiah Johnson Purnell, activist, and businessman[82]
* Harriet Forten Purvis, abolitionist[82]
* Robert Purvis, abolitionist, lived most of his life in Philadelphia[83]
* Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis, abolitionist, suffragist[84]
* William B. Purvis, inventor and businessman[85]
* Stephen Smith, businessman, philanthropist, preacher, real estate developer, and abolitionist[65]
* William Whipper, businessman and abolitionist[86]
* Peter Williams Jr., pastor and abolitionist[87]

### 20th–21st centuries

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

* Julian Abele, architect
* Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, artist
* Henry Ossawa Tanner, painter
* Bessie Smith, blues singer and actress
* Alain LeRoy Locke, Harlem Renaissance philosopher, journalist, author, scholar
* Raymond Pace Alexander, Lawyer and civil rights activist
* Rex Stewart, cornetist/trumpeter, journalist, disk jockey, publisher
* Billie Holiday, singer
* Ethel Waters, Singer, comedienne and actress
* Marian Anderson, contralto opera singer
* Crystal Bird Fausett, first African-American female state legislator (elected 1938)
* Kobe Bryant, basketball player
* Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia
* John F. Street, Mayor of Philadelphia
* Luckey Roberts, pianist and composer
* Teddy Pendergrass, Singer, songwriter and drummer
* Ed Bradley, News correspondent
* Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player
* Will Smith, rapper, actor
* Guion S. Bluford, astronaut, scientist, pilot
* Kevin Hart, actor, comedian
* Patti LaBelle, singer, actor
* Judith Jamison, ballet dancer, choreographer
* Jill Scott, singer
* Sherman Hemsley, actor
* Solomon Burke, singer
* W. Wilson Goode, Mayor of Philadelphia
* Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook)
* Bill Cosby, Comedian and actor
* Raymond Pace Alexander, lawyer, judge and politician
* Lil Uzi Vert, rapper[88]
* Eve, rapper, singer, actress, and television presenter
* Meek Mill, rapper
* Beanie Sigel, rapper
* Erykah Badu, singer-songwriter
* Questlove, musician
* Jazmine Sullivan, singer
* Freeway, rapper
* Grover Washington, Jr., Saxophonist, Musician, Writer, Producer, Arranger, Educator

## See also

[edit]

* Philadelphia portal

* Arch Street Friends Meeting House
* Vigilant Association of Philadelphia
* Demographics of Philadelphia
* History of the Jews in Philadelphia
* History of Irish Americans in Philadelphia
* History of Italian Americans in Philadelphia
* African Americans in New York City
* African Americans in New Jersey
* History of Pennsylvania
* History of Philadelphia
* Hispanics and Latinos in Philadelphia
* Cuban migration to Philadelphia
* Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia
* Indians in the Philadelphia metropolitan area

## References

[edit]

* "Blacks in Philadelphia." (November 1976). Black Enterprise. Start p. 36.

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Philadelphia". 12 December 2023.
2. ^ "16 Things to Know: African-American Philadelphia". 8 July 2016.
3. ^ "Religious Landscape Study".
4. ^ "A City Transformed" (PDF). Philadelphia Research Initiative, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
5. ^ "Black Homeownership Before World War II". 29 March 2023.
6. ^ "African | Global Philadelphia". 9 August 2023.
7. ^ a b c d Wolfinger, James. "African American Migration". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved March 5, 2021./
8. ^ "Founding of Pennsylvania Abolition Society". Africans in America. PBS.
9. ^ Diemer, Andrew. "Free Black Communities". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
10. ^ Diemer, Andrew Free Black Communities, Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia /
11. ^ "Africans in America/Part 3/The Yellow Fever Epidemic". www.pbs.org.
12. ^ "Kidnapping in Pennsylvania". PBS. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
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14. ^ Ira V. Brown, Cradle of Feminism: The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, 1833-1840 The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 102, No. 2 (Apr., 1978), pp. 143-166 University of Pennsylvania Press
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16. ^ "ROBERT PURVIS DEAD.; Anti-Slavery Leader Expires in Philadelphia, Aged 87 -- His Work for the Black Race" (PDF). The New York Times. April 16, 1898. Retrieved April 26, 2014
17. ^ Bacon (2007), But One Race, p. 106
18. ^ Lucien Holmess, United States Colored Troops , Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, retrieved March 5, 2021
19. ^ Lamb, Chris (2020-10-08). "Octavius Catto fought for black voting rights and was killed for it". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
20. ^ Finkelman, Paul, ed. (2006). Encyclopedia of African American History 1619-1895. 3. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 224.
21. ^ Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller". American National Biography Online. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
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23. ^ Bacon, Margaret Hope (1989). "One Great Bundle of Humanity": Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 113 (1): 21–43. ISSN 0031-4587. JSTOR 20092281.
24. ^ Gerald, Horne (2009-11-12). W.E.B. Du Bois : a biography. Santa Barbara. ISBN 978-0313349805. OCLC 496518307.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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26. ^ a b "W.E.B. DuBois - The Philadelphia Negro - Chapter 1". media.pfeiffer.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
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28. ^ Franklin, Vincent (July 1975). "The Philadelphia Race Riot of 1918". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 99 (3): 336–350.
29. ^ Franklin, Vincent, The Philadelphia Race Riot of 1918, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography July, 1975, volume 99, issue 3, page 36-350
30. ^ Ittmann, John W. (2001). Dox Thrash : an African American master printmaker rediscovered. Philadelphia Museum of Art., Terra Museum of American Art. Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art. ISBN 0295981598. OCLC 47785679.
31. ^ Kathleen Collins (2004). "Black Opals". In Cary D. Wintz; Paul Finkelman (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: A-J. Taylor & Francis. p. 133\. ISBN 978-1-57958-457-3.
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33. ^ Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (2009). Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 218–9. ISBN 9780195387957.
34. ^ "Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia | Great Depression". philadelphiaencyclopedia.org.
35. ^ "Roots of Hypersegregation in Philadelphia, 1920-1930 – PhillyHistory Blog". Blog.phillyhistory.org. 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
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37. ^ "Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia | Gospel Music (African American)". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
38. ^ Sims, Gayle Ronan (April 21, 2007). "Marie Hicks, 83, the Rosa Parks of Girard College", The Philadelphia Inquirer.
39. ^ "Timeline · Civil Rights in a Northern City: Philadelphia · Digital Exhibitions". Northerncity.library.temple.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
40. ^ a b Genovese, Holly. "Black Power". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
41. ^ Zollo, Paul (1997-08-21). Songwriters On Songwriting. Da Capo Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-306-80777-0.
42. ^ "Philly Soul Music Genre Overview - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
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44. ^ "Let The Fire Burn | Kanopy". freelibrary.kanopy.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
45. ^ Demby, Gene (13 May 2015). "I'm From Philly. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing". NPR. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
46. ^ Terry, Don (June 25, 1996). "Philadelphia Held Liable for Firebomb Fatal to 11". The New York Times.
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51. ^ "Latinos, Blacks Show Strong Growth in San Antonio as White Population Declines". August 13, 2021.
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53. ^ "Paul Robeson House & Museum". Paulrobesonhouse.org. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
54. ^ a b c d "Blacks in Philadelphia." p. 44.
55. ^ "A City Transformed" (PDF). Philadelphia Research Initiative, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
56. ^ "Blacks in Philadelphia." p. 36.
57. ^ "Pennsylvania Abolition Society papers, 1751-1992, undated; bulk 1780-1930".
58. ^ "Black Philadelphians are overrepresented at every stage of the criminal justice system, DA says".
59. ^ "Philly homicides rose again in 2019; Blacks made up majority of the victims, data shows".
60. ^ Bowden, Henry Warner (1993). Dictionary of American Religious Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 15–16\. ISBN 978-0-313-27825-9.
61. ^ Sanders, Nancy I. (2010-01-01). America's Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders with 21 Activities. Chicago Review Press. p. 120\. ISBN 978-1-61374-121-4.
62. ^ The Elite of Our People: Joseph Willson's Sketches of Black Upper-Class Life in Antebellum Philadelphia. Penn State Press. p. 62\. ISBN 978-0-271-04302-9.
63. ^ "Jabez Campbell, Minister, and Abolitionist born". African American Registry (AAREG). Retrieved 2023-01-21.
64. ^ Peterson, Carla L.; Peterson, Professor of English and Comparative Literature Carla L. (2011-02-22). Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City. Yale University Press. pp. 1847–1848\. ISBN 9780300164091.
65. ^ a b Arkles, Janine Black (2015). "Philadelphia Periwigs, Perfumes, and Purpose: Black Barber and Social Activist Joseph Cassey, 1789–1848". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 82 (2).
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67. ^ "Dr. Rebecca J. Cole". Changing the Face of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. National Library of Medicine. October 14, 2003.
68. ^ "Rebecca Cox Jackson, Shaker Eldress born". African American Registry (AAREG). Retrieved 2023-01-21.
69. ^ de Vera, Samantha (ed.). "Nathaniel W. Depee". The Fight for Black Mobility: Traveling to Mid-Century Conventions, Colored Conv. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
70. ^ Brown, Stacy M. (21 August 2019). "Women's Suffrage Heroine: Charlotte Vandine Forten". The Washington Informer.
71. ^ Winch, Julie, A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 16.
72. ^ Alexander, Leslie. Encyclopedia of African American History, Volume 1 ABC-CLIO (2010), p. 1045.
73. ^ Yee, Shirley J. (1992). Black Women Abolitionists: A Study in Activism 1828–1860. Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0870497367. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
74. ^ Bacon, Margaret Hope (Spring 2001). "New Light on Sarah Mapps Douglass and Her Reconciliation with Friends". Quaker History. 90 (1): 28–49\. doi:10.1353/qkh.2001.0011. S2CID 162189564.
75. ^ Levy, Valerie D. (January 8, 2005). "Voices from the Gaps: Sarah Mapps Douglass". University of Minnesota.
76. ^ Schafer, Susan A. (2013-10-15). "Black Scholar's Post-Civil War Diploma Survives". Associated Press.
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78. ^ "Frances E.W. Harper, American author and social reformer". Britannica. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
79. ^ Bacon, Margaret Hope (1989). ""One Great Bundle of Humanity": Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 113 (1): 21–43\. ISSN 0031-4587. JSTOR 20092281.
80. ^ "Absalom Jones, Minister born". African American Registry (AAREG). Retrieved 2023-01-21.
81. ^ Jet. Vol. 2\. Johnson Publishing Company. 1952-10-09. p. 7\. ISSN 0021-5996.
82. ^ a b Winch, Julie (2000). The Elite of Our People: Joseph Willson's Sketches of Black Upper-Class Life in Antebellum Philadelphia. State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 159, 171–172\. ISBN 9780271043029.
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84. ^ "Sarah Forten Purvis, Poet born". African American Registry (AAREG). Retrieved 2023-01-21.
85. ^ Connor, Alice Ann (1997-02-25). "Who invented that?". Kenosha News. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
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87. ^ "Peter Williams, Sr". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
88. ^ "Lil Uzi Vert Reacts to Critics Who Say He Doesn't Run Philadelphia". Complex Networks.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Abrahams, Roger D. Deep down in the jungle: Black American folklore from the streets of Philadelphia (Routledge, 2018).
* Barnes, Kelli Racine. "Schoolgirl Embroideries and Black Girlhood in Antebellum Philadelphia." Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice 9.3 (2021): 298–320.
* Dirkson, Menika. "“Stop Talking and Act”: The Battle between Tough on Crime Policing and Guardianship of Black Juvenile Gangs in Philadelphia, 1958–1969." Journal of Urban History (2023): 00961442221142055.
* Jacoby, Sara F., et al. "The enduring impact of historical and structural racism on urban violence in Philadelphia." Social Science & Medicine 199 (2018): 87–95. online
* Klein, Nicholas J., Erick Guerra, and Michael J. Smart. "The Philadelphia story: Age, race, gender and changing travel trends." Journal of Transport Geography 69 (2018): 19–25. online
* Lee, Austin Colby Guy. "Allure in the uninhabitable: on affect, space, and Blackness in gentrifying Philadelphia." Cultural Geographies (2022): 14744740221119154.
* Logan, John R., and Benjamin Bellman. "Before the Philadelphia Negro: Residential segregation in a nineteenth-century northern city." Social Science History 40.4 (2016): 683–706. online
* Loughran, Kevin. "The Philadelphia Negro and the canon of classical urban theory." Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race 12.2 (2015): 249–267.
* Winch, Julie. "Friends, Family and Freedom in Colonial Philadelphia: A Black Slaveowner Settles her Accounts." in Quakers and Their Allies in the Abolitionist Cause, 1754-1808 (Routledge, 2016) pp. 39–53.
* Young, Alford A. "The Soul of The Philadelphia Negro and The Souls of Black Folk." in The Souls of WEB Du Bois (Routledge, 2019) pp. 43–72.

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Athletic associations
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Ethnic subdivisions|

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Ethnic history of Philadelphia

Groups|

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Ethnic enclaves|

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Institutions|

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Events|

* Lombard Street riot
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Media|

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Ancestry and ethnicity in the United States

General/miscellaneous ethno-racial classifications

| General groups|

* African Americans
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|

Hispanic/Latino|

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Multiracial|

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Aboriginal/Indigenous/Native Americans

| Alaskan|

* Aleutians
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|

Californian|

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Iroquois|

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Miscellaneous|

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The Americas (by region and country)

| Caribbean|

* Anglo-Caribbean
* Antiguan
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* Dominican (Commonwealth)
* Grenadian
* Jamaican
* Kittian
* St. Lucian
* Trinidadian
* Vincentian
* Virgin Islanders
* Dutch Caribbean
* Indo-Caribbean
* Latin Caribbean
* Cuban
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* Haitian
* Puerto Ricans

|

North America|

* Belizean
* Canadian
* French Canadian
* Greenlandic
* Latin North/Central American
* Costa Rican
* Guatemalan
* Honduran
* Mexican
* Indigenous Mexican
* Nicaraguan
* Panamanian
* Salvadoran

South America|

* Guyanese
* Latin South American
* Argentine
* Bolivian
* Brazilian
* Chilean
* Colombian
* Ecuadorian
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* Peruvian
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* Venezuelan
* Surinamese

Africa

| General/misc.|

* Black African diaspora
* African Americans
* Afro-Caribbeans
* Afro-Latinos
* Recent African immigrants

|

Central Africa|

* Cameroonian
* Congolese
* Equatoguinean
* Gabonese

East Africa|

* Eritrean
* Ethiopian
* Kenyan
* Somali
* South Sudanese
* Tanzanian
* Ugandan

Southern Africa|

* Angolan
* Malawian
* South African
* Afrikaners
* Zimbabwean

West Africa|

* Beninese
* Cape Verdean
* Fula
* Gambian
* Ghanaian
* Guinean
* Guinea-Bissauan
* Ivorian
* Liberian
* Malian
* Mauritanian
* Nigerian
* Igbo
* Yoruba
* Senegalese
* Sierra Leonean
* Togolese

Asia

| General/misc.|

* Asian Americans
* Asian Latinos

|

Central Asia|

* Afghan
* Pashtun
* Kazakh
* Kyrgyz
* Tajik
* Turkmen
* Uzbek

East Asia|

* Chinese
* Fuzhounese
* Hakka
* Hoklo
* Hong Kong
* Taiwanese
* Tibetan
* Uyghur
* Japanese
* Ryukyuan
* Korean
* Mongolian

South Asia|

* Bangladeshi
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* Indian
* Bengali
* Gujarati
* Malayali
* Punjabi
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Indo-Caribbean
* Maldivian
* Nepalese
* Pakistani
* Balochi
* Pashtun
* Punjabi
* Sindhi
* Sri Lankan
* Tamil

Southeast Asia|

* Burmese
* Karen
* Cambodian
* Filipino
* Hmong–Mien
* Hmong
* Iu Mien
* Indonesian
* Laotian
* Malaysian
* Singaporean
* Thai
* Vietnamese

Europe

| General/misc.|

* White/European Americans
* Non-Hispanic Whites
* White Hispanic/Latino
* Jewish
* Romani
* Bashalde

|

British Isles|

* British
* Cornish
* English
* Manx
* Scottish
* Welsh
* Irish
* Scotch-Irish

Central Europe|

* Austrian
* Czech
* German
* Frisian
* Sorbian
* Polish
* Kashubian
* Rusyn
* Silesian
* Slovak
* Swiss

Eastern Europe|

* Baltic
* Estonian
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Belarusian
* Moldovan
* Russian
* Chechen
* Circassian
* Cossack
* Kalmyk
* Ukrainian
* Cossack

Northern Europe|

* Danish
* Faroese
* Greenlandic
* Finnish
* Icelandic
* Norwegian
* Sami
* Swedish

Southern Europe|

* Iberian
* Portuguese
* Spanish
* Asturian
* Basque
* Canarian
* Catalan
* Galician
* Italian
* Sicilian
* Maltese
* Sammarinese

Southeast Europe|

* Albanian
* Armenian
* Azerbaijani
* Bulgarian
* Cypriot
* Georgian
* Greek
* Hungarian
* Romanian
* Turkish
* Yugoslav
* Bosnian
* Croatian
* Macedonian
* Montenegrin
* Serbian
* Slovenian

Western Europe|

* Belgian
* Flemish
* Dutch
* Afrikaners
* French
* Basque
* Breton
* Corsican
* French Canadian
* Liechtensteiner
* Luxembourger

Middle East and North Africa

| Multinational|

* Arab
* Assyrian
* Berber
* Circassian
* Jewish
* Kurdish

|

North Africa|

* Algerian
* Egyptian
* Coptic
* Libyan
* Moroccan
* Sudanese
* Tunisian

West Asia|

* Armenian
* Azerbaijani
* Bahraini
* Cypriot
* Emirati
* Georgian
* Iranian
* Balochi
* Iraqi
* Israeli
* Jordanian
* Kuwaiti
* Lebanese
* Omani
* Palestinian
* Qatari
* Saudi
* Syrian
* Syrian-Jewish
* Turkish
* Yemeni

Oceania (Pacific Islands)

| Australasia|

* Australian
* New Zealander
* Maori

|

Melanesia|

* Fijian
* Papuan

Micronesia|

* Chamorro
* Marshallese
* Micronesian (Federation)
* Palauan

Polynesia|

* French Polynesian
* Hawaiian
* Maori
* Samoan
* Tongan

Related subjects

* People of the United States / Americans
* American ancestry
* Native American ancestry
* Maps of American ancestries
* 2010 census
* Race and ethnicity in the census
* Race and ethnicity in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
* Racism

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City of Philadelphia

Topics|

* History
* Timeline
* Architecture
* Bibliography
* Companies
* Cuisine
* Culture
* Demographics
* Dialect
* Economy
* Education
* Media
* Music
* Notable people
* Riots
* Sites of interest
* Historic Landmarks
* Skyscrapers
* Transportation

Government|

* City Hall
* Mayor
* City Council
* District Attorney
* Airports
* Philadelphia International Airport
* Northeast Philadelphia Airport
* Fire Department
* Free Library
* Police Department
* School district

Neighborhoods|

* Center City
* North Philadelphia
* Lower North
* Upper North
* Olney-Oak Lane
* Northeast Philadelphia
* River Wards
* Northwest Philadelphia
* South Philadelphia
* Southwest Philadelphia
* West Philadelphia

Museums|

* Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
* African American Museum in Philadelphia
* American Philosophical Society
* American Swedish Historical Museum
* Athenaeum of Philadelphia
* Barnes Foundation
* Bartram's Garden
* Belmont Mansion
* Betsy Ross House
* Civil War Museum
* Cliveden
* Eastern State Penitentiary
* Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion
* Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
* Elfreth's Alley
* Fabric Workshop and Museum
* Fairmount Water Works
* Fort Mifflin
* Franklin Institute
* Germantown White House
* Glen Foerd on the Delaware
* Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum and Library
* Grumblethorpe
* Hill–Physick–Keith House
* Historic Strawberry Mansion
* Historical Society of Frankford
* Historical Society of Pennsylvania
* Independence National Historical Park
* Independence Hall
* Independence Seaport Museum
* Insectarium
* Institute of Contemporary Art
* John Johnson House
* John Ruan House
* La Salle University Art Museum
* Lemon Hill
* Marian Anderson Residence Museum
* Masonic Temple, Library, and Museum
* Museum of the American Revolution
* Mütter Museum
* National Constitution Center
* National Liberty Museum
* National Museum of American Jewish History
* Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
* Philadelphia History Museum
* Philadelphia Museum of Art
* Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
* Please Touch Museum
* Powel House
* RittenhouseTown
* Rodin Museum
* Rosenbach Museum and Library
* Ryerss Museum and Library
* Science History Institute
* Shofuso Japanese House and Garden
* Stenton
* Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
* Penn Museum
* Wagner Free Institute of Science
* Woodmere Art Museum
* Wyck House

Sports|

* 76ers
* Eagles
* Flyers
* Freedoms
* Phillies
* Union
* WNBA team

Squares|

* Centre
* Franklin
* Logan
* Rittenhouse
* Washington

Related|

* Delaware Valley
* Carpenters' Hall
* Independence Hall
* Congress Hall
* Liberty Bell
* Syng inkstand
* SS United States
* 2016 Democratic National Convention
* Philadelphia Mint
* United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

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