Alex Harris, Author at Ridgefield Allies

Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for July 21:

Date	Type	Event
1818		Teacher, pioneering college professor, abolitionist, and activist, Charles L. Reason is born in New York City to parents, Michiel and Elizabeth Reason, immigrants from Haiti. Reason displayed an early aptitude for mathematics when he was a student at the New York African Free School and began his teaching career when he was 14 years old, while continuing his own education with tutors. Reason played a prominent role in the Negro Convention Movement in New York. In 1837 Reason joined Henry Highland Garnet, among others, in an effort to gain voting rights for African American men and he was later one of the co-authors of the Call for the New York Negro Convention of 1840. When the predominantly white Free Mission College (later renamed New York Central College) opened in Courtland County, New York in 1849, it admitted black students and hired Reason to serve on the faculty. In so doing, Reason became the first African American to teach at a predominantly white college, serving as professor of belles lettres, Greek, Latin, French, and adjunct professor of mathematics. Learn more.
1840		Christian Abraham Fleetwood, a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army, a commissioned officer in the D.C. National Guard, an editor, a musician, and a government official is born to Charles and Anna Maria Fleetwood, both free persons of color. Fleetwood graduated in 1860 from Ashmun Institute (later known as Lincoln University) in Oxford, Pennsylvania. He established and published The Lyceum Observer, said to be the first newspaper in the Upper South to be owned and operated by an African American. Fleetwood enlisted into Company G of the 4th Regiment United States Colored Infantry, Union Army, in August 1863. Due to his educated background, Fleetwood was given the rank of sergeant upon enlistment and was quickly promoted to sergeant major. His regiment, assigned to the 3rd Division, saw service with the 10th, 18th, and 25th Army Corps in campaigns in North Carolina and Virginia, particularly on July 16, 1864, in the Battle of Petersburg and on September 29–30, 1864, in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm. For his actions during this latter battle, Fleetwood received the Medal of Honor. Learn more.
1896		The National Association of Colored Women (later National Association of Colored Women's Clubs) is established in Washington, D.C.. This first of what would later become biennial convention meetings of the association was held at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. The organizations attending this convention included the National Federation of Afro-American Women, the Woman's Era Club of Boston, and the National League of Colored Women of Washington, DC, the Women's Loyal Union as well as smaller organizations that had arisen from the African-American women's club movement. These organizations and later others across the country merged to form the National Association of Colored Women. The organization helped all African-American women by working on issues of civil rights and injustice, such as women’s suffrage, lynching, and Jim Crow laws. Learn more.