As a family historian and founder of History Before Us, a project centered on capturing, preserving and advocating influential history, gathering oral history and conducting tireless research has been a staple of my innate being for the past 20 years. I’ve always been inquisitive about...
As a family historian and founder of History Before Us, gathering oral history and conducting tireless research has been a staple of my innate being for the past 20 years. I’ve always been inquisitive about my family surnames and how we settled in various southern...
By David Britton, Graduate student at Middle Tennessee State University and intern with History Before Us. Like most histories of formerly enslaved people, Peyton Caraway’s early years are clouded by missing records and conflicting traditions. Put more simply – Black stories and genealogies are not usually...
In 2019 while traveling to New Orleans for a memorial to celebrate the life of a beloved family member, I stopped in Africatown, Alabama to pay homage to the descendants of the Clotilda. The story of the Clotilda is widely known as being the “last...
In 1872, Canadian-born Henry Fitzbutler was the first black graduate of the University of Michigan’s Medical School. Prior to graduating the U of M, he was Detroit’s first black medical student. Dr. Fitzbutler’s road to success and humanitarianism did not come easy, his father was...
The United States Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act on April 9th, 1866 (despite being vetoed by President Andrew Johnson), leading to the declaration that all individuals born in the country were to be citizens despite their race, color, and any other conviction....