1847

William Still, a Philadelphia-born free Black man whose parents had escaped slavery, became chairman of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee and began documenting every freedom-seeker he assisted. His records — published as 'The Underground Rail Road' (1872) — documented over 800 individuals with names, origins, and methods of escape. His was the most systematic record-keeping of the network and remains the primary scholarly source for the Underground Railroad.

William Still, Philadelphia-born free Black man, became chairman of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee and documented every freedom-seeker he assisted. His records — published as 'The Underground Rail Road' (1872) — documented over 800 individuals with names, origins, and escape methods. His is the primary scholarly source for the Underground Railroad.

Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany co-founded The North Star in Rochester — the most influential Black newspaper of the antebellum era. Its masthead: 'Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color — God is the Father of us all.' By 1851 it became Frederick Douglass' Paper, reaching 4,000 subscribers before closing in 1860.

Frederick Douglass launched The North Star in Rochester, New York, declaring in his prospectus that 'a man was too much a slave who could not speak for himself.' The paper, funded partly by British abolitionist donations, became the most widely read Black newspaper of its era and ran until 1851 when it merged into Frederick Douglass' Paper.

Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany co-founded The North Star in Rochester, New York — the most influential Black newspaper of the antebellum era. Douglass sold his British lecture gifts to fund it. The masthead read: 'Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color — God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.' By 1851 it became Frederick Douglass' Paper and continued until 1860, reaching 4,000 subscribers.

Willis Hodges launched The Ram's Horn in New York City after the New York Sun refused to print his letter opposing Black disenfranchisement unless he paid advertising rates. The paper — whose motto was 'We are men and brothers' — ran for about two years and published an early contribution by John Brown outlining guerrilla resistance to slavery. It exemplified Black press determination in the face of white media exclusion.

Douglass founds his abolitionist newspaper under the masthead "Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color."