Prosperity and Politics: Taking Stock of Black Wealth and the 1843 Convention
By 1843, free and fugitive Black delegates and attendees had gathered at national colored citizens conventions for over a decade to organize for social, political, educational, and labor rights. On August 15, fifty-eight delegates and a lively audience convened at Park Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, New York to consider “their moral and political condition as American citizens.” Undoubtedly, the 1843 National Colored Convention is best known for the Black reverend and activist, Henry Highland Garnet’s speech, “Address to the Slaves of the United States” and the heated debates about slave insurrection that ensued.
Credits
Curator: Sarah Patterson, PhD candidate in English and Co-Coordinator, the Colored Conventions Project.
Undergraduate Researchers: Nathan Nikolic, Gwen Meredith, Caleb Trotter, Gerti Wilson, and Ariana Woodson.
Additional contributions: Exhibit Migration 2025-2026 by Christiana Dillard, University of Pennsylvania; Eunice Toh, Penn State University; and Lauren Cooper, Penn State University.
Cover image Dr. Charles Fraser and Dr. Sarah Loguen-Fraser’s pharmacy in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Photo courtesy of Department of Historical Collections, Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical Library.
Special thanks to Gale, a Cengage Company, and Accessible Archives Inc.® for granting permission for the use of the materials from 19th Century U.S. Newspaper and African American Newspapers.
