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GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS
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THE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
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MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

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BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Katherine Johnson — Mathematics to the Moon

Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.

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BHP gathered finds from its connected research sources. Showing the 4 strongest Black History matches.
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NMAAHC

Certificate of freedom for Peter Garretson

Date
April 27, 1811
Created by
New York City, American, founded 1624
Subject of
Peter Garretson, American
Peter Mesier, American
Description
Certificate of freedom for Peter Garretson, issued by the City & County of New York and signed by Alderman Peter Mesier on April 27, 1811. It has black ink on off-white paper. Standard legal text is printed, while details pertaining to the specific case/individual is filled in by hand. The certificate reads [CITY & COUNTY OF NEW-YORK, SS. / I Peter Mesier - / one of the Aldermen of the City of New-York, and a Judge of the Court / of Common please, called the Mayor's Court, in and for the said city, / DO CERTIFY, That on this day / Peter Garretson / residing in the said city a black man / exhibited proof before me, reduced to writing, of the freedom of him the / said Peter - / is free according to the laws of this state, and I DO FURTHER CER- / TIFY, that the said Peter - / is a person about five feet four . inches high, / has dark eyes short black - Hair, that he is about the age of / forty nine - year, that he was born at Esopus - / - in the State of New York - and / that he became free in or before the year one / thousand eight hundred and one - / as nearly as the same can be ascertained. / GIVEN under my hand, this twenty seventh day of April in the year one thousand / eight hundred and eleven / Peter Mesier]. A stylized swirl is drawn under Mesier's signature. The back is blank. The paper is discolored throughout. There is edge wear, and the paper is creased horizontally across the center with some tearing.
Place depicted
New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Esopus, Ulster County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Topic
African American
Free communities of color
Law
Slavery
U.S. History, 1783-1815
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Slavery and Freedom Objects
Documents and Manuscripts
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2013.46.5.1
Type
free papers
Restrictions & Rights
Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 6 7/16 x 7 15/16 in. (16.4 x 20.2 cm)
Title
Object Name • Certificate of freedom for Peter Garretson
Record ID
nmaahc_2013.46.5.1
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
CERTIFICATE OF FREEDOM FOR PETER GARRETSON
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1810s
Name
New York City • Garretson, Peter • Mesier, Peter
Place
New York City • United States • North and Central America • Esopus • Ulster County
Topic
Slavery • Law • Free communities of color • U.S. History, 1783-1815
Culture
African Americans
Geo Location
City • New York City • State • New York • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America • City • Esopus • County • Ulster County
Type
Free papers
Online Media Type
Images
Online Media Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Rights and restrictions shown above are supplied by the Smithsonian record.

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NMAAHC

Certificate of freedom for Peter Garretson

Date: Date

Description

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NMAAHC

Phillis Wheatley (Phillis Peters): A Critical Attempt and a Bibliography of Her Writings

Date: Date

Caption

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NMAAHC

The Mothership

Date: Date

Description

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NMAAHC

A Biography of the Lives of Cortez W. Peters, Sr., World's Accuracy Typist and Cortez W. Peters, Jr., Author and Recorder of Championship Keyboarding Methodology

Date: Date

Caption

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TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

What prosperous Tulsa district became widely known as “Black Wall Street”?

The Greenwood District.