Martin Robison Delany

Martin Robison Delany, the son of an enslaved father and a free Black mother, became one of the most prominent Black leaders in 19th-century America and was called the Father of Black Nationalism for promoting African American pride and self-determination. Born on May 6, 1812, in present-day Charles Town, West Virginia, he moved with his family to Pennsylvania because education for Blacks was illegal there. Delany studied medicine, founded a newspaper called the Mystery, advocated rights for African Americans and women, and co-edited the North Star with Frederick Douglass. He risked his life by demanding equality and by aiding Americans of African descent in their flight from slavery to freedom. In 1859 he traveled in Africa to secure a homeland for Black Americans. During the Civil War he came to believe a Union victory would end slavery, recruited Black soldiers, and met with President Lincoln to propose the formation of an African American army led by Black officers. Commissioned a Major, he became the highest-ranking Black field officer in the Regular Army. In 1864 he and his wife Catherine came to Wilberforce, Ohio, to provide their children a quality education. He later served in the Freedman’s Bureau to protect the rights of the formerly enslaved. Delany fought to achieve justice for African Americans as an abolitionist, physician, leader in Prince Hall Freemasonry, inventor, judge, and writer. He died on January 24, 1885, and was buried at Massies Creek Cemetery three miles from his Wilberforce home.

Wilberforce, Ohio · United States