Episodes Around: 18840726

  1. English Travelers Visit a Black University in Atlanta, Georgia
    date 1884map FULTON, Georgiatags African-Americans, Education, Race-Relations

    In the year 1884, two travelers from London, England set out to tour the Southern United States. Upon reaching Georgia, the men stopped to visit Atlanta University, an African American university of the state. Their tour of the university led them to observe that the rooms at the school were light, clean,... and cheerful, and that the work of the students at the school was done exceedingly well....

  2. African American Woman Contracts Skin Disease
    date 1884map COBB, Georgiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Women

    In 1884, an African American woman living in Marietta, Georgia developed a rare skin disease that gradually lightened her skin. The woman worked for an upstanding white family in Georgia and experienced continuing skin lightening for many months. White spots covered her face and body, slowly enlarging and spreading across her skin. The spots gradually bleached her skin, making her appear white....

  3. New Baptist Church Brings Prosperity to Wytheville
    date March 6, 1884 to 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    Nineteenth century southerners took tremendous pride in their small towns and communities. Built nearly from scratch, these small towns were the ?heartbeat? of the South. Small news was big news in a town like Wytheville. When the plans to build a new Baptist church were announced, the local paper saw it as yet ?another indication of the prosperity in Wytheville.? At the cost of 1,000, the local...

  4. Livestock and Appalachia
    date April 3, 1884 to 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags Agriculture, Health/Death, Economy

    Healthy livestock were imperative to running a successful farm in Appalachia. Unfortunately, keeping these animals healthy after the Civil War became a constant struggle for many Appalachian farmers. Disease ravaged the livestock population after the war. In 1884, the Wytheville Dispatch ran an article about ?our friend? Bob Crockett. Crockett was famous in Wytheville for his work in improving the...

  5. Another Negro Boy Caught Stealing
    date April 17, 1884 to 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law

    Will Crockett, a thirteen year old boy became the ninth negro boy in a month to be caught stealing and sent to jail in April of 1884, in Wytheville. Crockett stole twenty dollars from Wolfenden Brothers and was sentenced to two months in jail by Judge Obenchain. Interjecting their own opinion, the Wytheville Dispatch hoped that his would be a lesson to local merchants to keep ?these little rascals?...

  6. Capital Punishment in Lee County
    date May 15, 1884 to 1884map LEE, Virginiatags Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law

    The eyes of justice were not colorblind in the South before or after Civil War. White criminals faced one set of rules while blacks faced another. Southern justice did not favor the death penalty unless the accused was black, in which case there was hardly a hesitation in its authorization. On March 15, 1884 in Jonesville, Virginia, Absalom Russell, a white man, was hanged for the murder of Ira...

  7. The National Game
    date July 26, 1884map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Arts/Leisure, Race-Relations, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Play Ball the Norfolk crowd shouted on a mid-July afternoon, despite the rain that would eventually force the Norfolks and the Baltimore Monumentals from the baseball field. Although the fans left disappointed, they would return the following day to see the two teams square off, and this time they got their money's worth. The Norfolk Landmark would call the July 26 game one of the finest ever...