Colored Conventions Project

2012

In 1830, Richard Allen declared that Black people must “devise and pursue all legal means for the speedy elevation of ourselves and brethren to the scale and standing of men” as he delivered the inaugural address at “The Convention of People of Colour.” Prompted in part by the discriminatory laws in the free state of Ohio, the political meeting was the first of what came to be known as “Colored Conventions.” Black people regularly organized and met across the United States and Canada to advocate for abolition and civil rights. The Colored Conventions Project brings the convention records together digitally, making them accessible for research.