1849

Araminta Ross — Harriet Tubman — escaped from Dorchester County, Maryland, traveling alone 90 miles to Philadelphia. She then returned south at least 13 times, personally guiding approximately 70 enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad, including her own parents. Enslavers posted rewards reaching $40,000 (combined) for her capture. She was never caught and never lost a passenger.

Harriet Tubman escaped from Dorchester County, Maryland, traveling 90 miles alone to Philadelphia. She then returned south at least 13 times, personally guiding approximately 70 enslaved people to freedom. Enslavers posted rewards reaching $40,000 combined for her capture. She was never caught and never lost a passenger.

Charles Avery, a Methodist minister and antislavery philanthropist, endowed Avery College in Allegheny City (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania — one of the few institutions granting degrees to Black Americans before the Civil War. The college trained Black teachers and professionals who spread across Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among its graduates were leaders in the AME and AME Zion churches and later Reconstruction-era politicians.

John V. DeGrasse, born in New York City to an Afro-Caribbean family, graduated from Bowdoin College's medical school in 1849, one of the first Black Americans to earn a medical degree from a US institution. He later became the first Black member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1854 after a celebrated battle against racial exclusion.

John V. DeGrasse, born in New York City to an Afro-Caribbean family, graduated from Bowdoin College's medical school in 1849, one of the first Black Americans to earn a medical degree from a US institution. He later became the first Black member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1854 after a celebrated battle against racial exclusion.