Browse Items (48 total)

Black Vermonters were, by definition, oddballs -- a tiny minority who chose the country over the city. How did they fare in this rural environment? What sort of work did they find in Vermont's agrarian economy? Did they own farms or homes? Were they…

A nineteenth-century genealogist alleged that Prentiss, the young St. Albans amanuensis of Jeffrey Brace's 1810 memoir, The Blind African Slave, practiced law in Richmond, Virginia, and ran a plantation in Wheeling, West Virginia. Although this…

In July 1909, the Tenth United States Cavalry Regiment, one of four regular army black regiments collectively known as the Buffalo Soldiers, arrived in Burlington, Vermont, to begin a four-year tour of duty at Fort Ethan Allen in neighboring…

After the Civil War, the Vermont national Guard was a popular activity for Vermont men. This photo was taken at Camp Governor Page in Montpelier. According to the caption on the back it shows the "Big 4" leaders of the unit: left to right,…

This photograph was taken at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Encampment (i.e., convention) in Philadelphia in August 1930 where veterans advocated for increased benefits at the beginning of the Depression. The Vermont delegation is identified…

This photograph shows Gertie Brooks, a Black American school girl, with her classmates on the steps of a school house in Berlin, Vermont, ca. 1875. Next to Gertie is Eugenia Selina. In the door in front of the teacher are Eugene Smith and Eldon…

This photograph shows a young Black American girl in fancy clothing posing with an old man. We do not know the identity of these two people or their relationship.

Minstrel shows in which white men appeared in blackface were popular in Vermont as well as other areas of the country. This photograph shows the "All- Star Minstrels," a group of 14 men on stage, twelve of them in blackface. Most of the men in…

Minstrel shows in which white men appeared in blackface were popular in Vermont as well as other areas of the country. This article describes one such show at the Cray's Star Theater in St. Johnsbury in 1932.

Minstrel shows in which white men appeared in blackface were popular in Vermont as well as other areas of the country. This article describes one such show in Gaysville, a village of Stockbridge, Vt., in 1932.

Newspaper article about arrive of Black American kids from Harlem in Vermont as part of Rev. Ritchie Low’s “Vermont Plan” experiment

Newspaper article about Rev. Low visiting Bennington county seeking housing for visiting African American children. According to later articles, he ultimately had more hosts than children.