In 1838 Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Maryland and fled to freedom in New Bedford, Mass. He became a prominent abolitionist, author, public speaker, and newspaper publisher. Following the Emancipation Proclamation he continued to work for voting rights for blacks and women's suffrage. He was the most photographed man of the 19thcentury.

Frederick Douglass has been called the father of the Civil Rights Movement. Through determination, oratory eloquence and the written word, he helped to shape the national conversation about race.

The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, known as “Mother Emanuel”, was founded in 1816 in Charleston, South Carolina. It is one of the oldest continuous black congregations in the United States. 

A celebrated civil rights activist and Baptist minister, who twice ran for the Democratic party's presidential nomination. He was one of Martin Luther King's close associates and was with him at the Lorraine Motel the night of Dr. King's assassination.

Jeffrey Brace, born Boyrereau Brinch, was captured and enslaved in Africa at the age of 16. He was taken to Barbados and then New England. After being the slave of numerous cruel owners, he was sold to Widow Mary Stiles of Woodbury, Connecticut who treated him humanely and taught him to read. Baptized a Christian, he read and memorized the entire Bible.