Martin Robison Delany, born May 6, 1812, in Charles Town in present day West Virginia, was the son of an enslaved father and a free Black mother and became one of the most prominent Black leaders in 19th Century America. Because it was illegal for Blacks to be educated there, his mother moved the family to Pennsylvania. Of direct African lineage and known as the “Father of Black Nationalism,” he promoted Black pride and self-determination, studied medicine, founded the newspaper The Mystery, advocated rights for African Americans and women, and co-edited The North Star with Frederick Douglass. He risked his life as a leader in the Underground Railroad, traveled to Africa in 1859 in an attempt to secure a homeland for Black Americans, and, as the United States moved toward Civil War, believed a Union victory would end slavery. He recruited Black troops, met with President Lincoln to propose a strategy for winning the war with Black officers leading Black soldiers, and was commissioned a Major, the highest ranking Black field officer in the Union Army. He later served in the Freedman’s Bureau to protect the rights of the formerly enslaved and moved to Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1864 to provide his children a quality education. As an abolitionist, physician, leader in Prince Hall Freemasonry, politician, judge, and writer, Delany fought to achieve justice and equality for all Americans of African descent.