Elizabeth Jennings Graham
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Elizabeth Jennings Graham (March 1827 – June 5, 1901) was an
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
teacher and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
figure. In 1854, Graham insisted on her right to ride on an available
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
at a time when all such companies were private and most operated segregated cars. Her case was decided in her favor in 1855, and it led to the eventual desegregation of all New York City transit systems by 1865. Graham later started the city's first
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
for African-American children, operating it from her home on 247 West 41st Street until her death in 1901.


Early life

Jennings was born free in March 1827 (the exact date is unknown). Her parents, Thomas L. Jennings (1791–1856) and his wife, born Elizabeth Cartwright (1798–1873), had three children: Matilda Jennings Thompson (1824–1886), Elizabeth, and James E. Jennings (1832 – May 5, 1860). Her father was a Freeman and her mother was born enslaved. He became a successful tailor and an influential member of New York's black community. He has been identified as the earliest known example of a Black person to hold a
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
in the United States in their own name; in 1821, he was awarded a patent from the U.S. government for developing dry scouring, a new method to dry clean clothing. With the proceeds he received from his patented dry-cleaning process, Thomas Jennings bought his family's freedom. His wife would have otherwise been the legal property of her owner until 1827, under New York state's gradual abolition law of 1799. Jennings Graham's mother, Elizabeth Cartwright Jennings, was a prominent woman in her local community. She is known for penning the speech 10-year-old Elizabeth Jennings delivered, "On the Improvement of the Mind," at a meeting of the Ladies Literary Society of New York (founded 1834). The literary society was founded by New York's elite black women to promote self-improvement through community activities, reading, and discussion. Produced and given in 1837, the speech discusses how the neglect of cultivating the mind would keep blacks inferior to whites and would have whites and enemies believe that blacks do not have any minds at all. Jennings believed the mind was very powerful and its improvement could help with the abolition of slavery and discrimination. Therefore, she called upon black women to develop their minds and take action. The importance of improving the mind was a consistent theme that developed in members of New York's Black Elite in the post-Revolutionary period. By 1854, Jennings had become a schoolteacher and church organist. She taught at the city's private African Free School, which had several locations by this time, and later in the public schools including Colored School No. 5 at 19 Thomas Street.


''Jennings v. Third Ave. Railroad''

By the 1850s, the horse-drawn streetcar on rails became a more common mode of transportation, competing with the horse-drawn omnibus in the city. (Elevated
heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...
transportation did not go into service in New York City until 1869.) Like the nearly obsolete omnibus lines, the streetcars were owned by private companies, which regularly barred access to their service on the basis of race. The owners and drivers could easily refuse service to passengers of African descent or demand racially segregated seating. On Sunday, July 16, 1854, Jennings went to the First Colored Congregational Church, where she was an organist. As she was running late, she boarded a streetcar of the Third Avenue Railroad Company at the corner of Pearl Street and Chatham Street. The conductor ordered her to get off. When she refused, the conductor tried to remove her by force. Eventually, with the aid of a police officer, Jennings was ejected from the streetcar.
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...
's ''
New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...
'' commented on the incident in February 1855: The incident sparked an organized movement among black New Yorkers to end racial discrimination on streetcars, led by notables such as Jennings's father, Rev. James W. C. Pennington, and Rev. Henry Highland Garnet. Her story was publicized by
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...
in his newspaper, and it received national attention. Jennings's father filed a lawsuit on behalf of his daughter against the driver, the conductor, and the Third Avenue Railroad Company in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, where the Third Avenue company was headquartered. This was one of four streetcar companies franchised in the city and had been in operation for about one year. She was represented by the law firm of Culver, Parker, and Arthur. Her case was handled by the firm's 24-year-old junior partner Chester A. Arthur, future
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
. In 1855, the court ruled in her favor. In his charge to the jury, Brooklyn Circuit Court Judge William Rockwell declared: "Colored persons if sober, well-behaved and free from disease, had the same rights as others and could neither be excluded by any rules of the company, nor by force or violence." The jury awarded Jennings damages in the amount of $250 () as well as $22.50 in costs. The next day, the Third Avenue Railroad Company ordered its cars desegregated. As important as the Jennings case was, it did not mean that all streetcar lines would desegregate. Leading African-American activists formed the New York Legal Rights Association to continue the fight. In May 1855, James W. C. Pennington brought suit after being forcefully removed from a car of the Eighth Avenue Railroad, another of the first four companies. After steps forward and back, a decade later in 1865, New York's public transit services were fully desegregated. The last case was a challenge by a black woman named Ellen Anderson, a widow of a fallen
United States Colored Troops United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans, with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand fo ...
soldier, a fact that won public support for her.


Later life

Elizabeth Jennings married Charles Graham (1830–1867) of Long Branch, New Jersey, on June 18, 1860, in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. They had a son, Thomas J. Graham. He was a sickly child who died of convulsions at the age of one during the New York Draft Riots of July 16, 1863. With the assistance of a white undertaker, the Grahams slipped through mob-filled streets and buried their child in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. The funeral service was read by Reverend Morgan Dix of the Trinity Church on Wall Street. After the New York Draft Riots, there were numerous attacks against the African-American community. The Grahams left Manhattan with her mother to live with her sister Matilda in
Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...
, in or near the town of Eaton. Charles died in 1867 while they were living in New Jersey. Elizabeth, along with her mother and sister, moved back to New York City in the late 1860s or 1870. Graham lived her later years at 247 West 41st Street. She founded and operated the city's first kindergarten for black children in her home. She died on June 5, 1901, at the age of 74, according to her tombstone, and was buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery along with her son and her husband.


Legacy

In 2007, New York City co-named a block of Park Row "Elizabeth Jennings Place" after a campaign by children from P. S. 361. On January 2, 2018, Jennings's first biography was published, written by Amy Hill Hearth. Entitled ''Streetcar to Justice: How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York'' and intended for middle-grade to adult readers, the book was published by
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
/Greenwillow Books in New York. Jerry Mikorenda authored ''America's First Freedom Rider: Elizabeth Jennings, Chester A. Arthur, and the Early Fight for Civil Rights'', about the legal fight which arose from her forcible removal out of the streetcar, published in December 2019 by
Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...
, Lanham, MD. In 2019, New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray announced that the city would build a statue honoring Graham near
Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...
. In September 2024, the Elizabeth Jennings’ School for Bold Explorers, a progressive public elementary school, opened its doors in Brooklyn, NY. Elizabeth Jennings’ resilience, commitment to justice, and dedication to equality and education guide the school’s mission.


See also

* Charlotte L. Brown, desegregated streetcars in San Francisco in the 1860s * John Mitchell Jr., in 1904, he organized a black boycott of Richmond, Virginia's segregated trolley system * Irene Morgan, in 1944, sued and won Supreme Court ruling that segregation of interstate buses was unconstitutional *
Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American civil rights activist. She is best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, in defiance of Jim Crow laws, which sparke ...
, inspired boycott against segregated buses in 1950s in Montgomery, Alabama


References

Notes Bibliography *Alexander, Leslie M. ''African or American? Black Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784-1861,'' (University of Illinois: 2008), pp. 125–130 * * *Hearth, Amy Hill. ''Streetcar to Justice: How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York'' (HarperCollins/Greenwillow Books: 2018). * * * *Volk, Kyle G. ''Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy'' (Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 146–166.
Volk, Kyle G. "NYC's 19th century Rosa Parks." ''New York Daily News'', Aug. 4, 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Elizabeth Jennings Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from New York City 1827 births 1901 deaths African-American activists African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from New York (state) 19th-century African-American educators 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators Chester A. Arthur Educators from New York City