Lesser-Known Stories
Shining a new light on the African American past and people who made history
Enslaved at the White House
Paul Jennings, enslaved by James and Dolly Madison, bought his freedom and published a personal memoir in 1865.
The First African American Physician
James McCune Smith, the first African American to hold a medical degree, fought against the false scientific claims of Black inferiority.
Preacher Jarena Lee: Praise in the Meantime
Jarena Lee experienced both the intense religiosity of the late 1700s and discrimination against women as she sought to become a preacher.
The Man Behind Tennessee Whiskey
Nathan “Nearest” Green was the first known Black master distiller and creator of the blueprint behind Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.
Enslaved at the White House
Paul Jennings, enslaved by James and Dolly Madison, bought his freedom and published a personal memoir in 1865.
Preacher Jarena Lee: Praise in the Meantime
Jarena Lee experienced both the intense religiosity of the late 1700s and discrimination against women as she sought to become a preacher.
The First African American Physician
James McCune Smith, the first African American to hold a medical degree, fought against the false scientific claims of Black inferiority.
The Man Behind Tennessee Whiskey
Nathan “Nearest” Green was the first known Black master distiller and creator of the blueprint behind Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.
Enslaved at the White House
Paul Jennings, enslaved by James and Dolly Madison, bought his freedom and published a personal memoir in 1865.
The First African American Physician
James McCune Smith, the first African American to hold a medical degree, fought against the false scientific claims of Black inferiority.
Preacher Jarena Lee: Praise in the Meantime
Jarena Lee experienced both the intense religiosity of the late 1700s and discrimination against women as she sought to become a preacher.
The Man Behind Tennessee Whiskey
Nathan “Nearest” Green was the first known Black master distiller and creator of the blueprint behind Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.
Crossing the Color Line to Freedom
William and Ellen Craft, fugitives from slavery, devised a cunning plan that crossed race, gender, and class lines.
An African American Venturer
"Free" Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia, Illinois, the first known town to be founded and platted by an African American.
The Water Spirit Will Take Us Home
The mass suicide by captive Africans at Igbo Landing marks one of the most significant acts of resistance by enslaved people.
Crossing the Color Line to Freedom
William and Ellen Craft, fugitives from slavery, devised a cunning plan that crossed race, gender, and class lines.
The Water Spirit Will Take Us Home
The mass suicide by captive Africans at Igbo Landing marks one of the most significant acts of resistance by enslaved people.
Crossing the Color Line to Freedom
William and Ellen Craft, fugitives from slavery, devised a cunning plan that crossed race, gender, and class lines.
An African American Venturer
"Free" Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia, Illinois, the first known town to be founded and platted by an African American.
The Water Spirit Will Take Us Home
The mass suicide by captive Africans at Igbo Landing marks one of the most significant acts of resistance by enslaved people.