Mary Ann Shadd Cary

In 1870 Mary Ann Shadd Cary became the country's first black female lawyer and organized the Colored Women's Progressive Franchise, dedicated to women's rights.

Susie King Taylor

Susie King Taylor served as a Union Army nurse during the Civil War. She was also the first black nurse to publish a memoir of her war experiences, offering valuable insight into the workings of the first black regiment during the War.

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad is a term that described a highly systemized, national secret organization that accomplished prodigious feats in stealing slaves away from the South. It aided fugitive slaves to escape to Canada or other free states. It was run by Northern abolitionists, both whites and free blacks. The metaphor first appeared on print in the early 1840s. The escaping slaves were referred to as passengers, stations represented their shelter, and guides such as Harriet Tubman were known as their conductors. Quakers were particularly prominent as conductors. However, experts note that the accuracy of these records are questionable, as details of the escapes became highly publicized and greatly exaggerated by the North and South, although for different reasons. I'm unsure which details are being referred to, but it is well-known that the Underground Railroad was an organization that helped slaves escape to freedom.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), an American abolitionist, was born into slavery. She escaped to Philadelphia in 1849 and returned more than a dozen times to help over 300 slaves escape to freedom. She became a speaker for anti-slavery lectures and served as nurse, cook, laundress, scout, and spy. In 1863 she participated in a raid that resulted in freeing more than 700 slaves.

Slavery

Slavery is the state of being owned by another person and having your freedom taken away from you. A slave is forced to work, historically dehumanized, mentally, physically, and sometimes sexually abused. Slavery is often associated with the suffering of Africans. The first African slaves arrived in Virginia in 1615. In 1787 slavery was made illegal in the Northwest Territory, but slavery didn't come to an end until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States. Yet discrimination of blacks didn't end. Other forms of discrimination have been implemented throughout history and still exist today.

National Wear Red Day

February 2 is National Wear Red Day, which is the American Heart Association's nationwide movement that celebrates the energy and power we have as women and men to eradicate heart disease. Heart disease is the number one killer of women and causes nearly 500,000, that's half a million, deaths a year. 1 in 8 women, aged 45-64 has coronary heart disease. And this increases to 1 in 4 women over the age of 65. The good news is that heart disease can be largely prevented. Eating healthfully, visiting the doctor regularly, the participation of people across the nation, and the positive contributions the color red and the red dress has been linked with heart health.

Black History Month

February is Black History Month. We have Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of Negro History to thank for this annual celebration. It began in 1926 during the second week of February specifically to coincide the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two men who made an immense impact on the black population. Over time Negro History Week evolved into the Black History Month that we're all familiar with.