Engle, Lavinia M. (23 May 1892–29 May 1979), women’s suffrage advocate, Maryland state representative, and federal social insurance official, was born Lavinia Margaret Engle in Forest Glen, Maryland, one of three children of Lavinia Hauke and James Melvin Engle. Her parents were both Quakers who greatly influenced her life and career. Her father was a Treasury Department official, giving her an early role model in government service. Her mother was also an advocate for women’s suffrage, once testifying before Congress alongside ...
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Engle, Lavinia M. (23 May 1892–29 May 1979), women’s suffrage advocate, Maryland state representative, and federal social insurance official
Nikoleta Sremac
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Jones, John (1816-1879), civil rights activist and Chicago county commissioner
Charles A. Gliozzo
Jones, John (03 November 1816–21 May 1879), civil rights activist and Chicago county commissioner, was born on a plantation in Greene County, North Carolina, the son of John Bromfield (occupation unknown), of German ancestry, and a free mulatto mother, whose last name was Jones (first name unknown). Due to the ancestry of his parents, John Jones was considered a free black. His mother, fearing that his father might attempt to reduce Jones to slavery, apprenticed Jones to learn a trade. It was in Tennessee that he received training as a tailor....
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Pelham, Benjamin B. (1862-1948), newspaper publisher, municipal official, and political leader
Francesco L. Nepa
Pelham, Benjamin B. (1862–07 October 1948), newspaper publisher, municipal official, and political leader, was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Robert Pelham, a plasterer and mason, and Frances Butcher. The Pelhams were a prosperous free black family who at one time owned a farm in Petersburg, Virginia. They were forced to sell, however, because of the harassment of townspeople, who were probably jealous of the family’s success. The need to leave Virginia became apparent when the Pelhams attempted to purchase a license for their pet dog but were turned down by local authorities, who claimed that only whites and slaves could purchase dog licenses. The family decided to head north, and around 1862, after brief stops in Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Pelhams settled in Detroit shortly after Benjamin’s birth....
