Today In Black History: Rev. Lemuel Haynes
The first credentialed African American clergyman in the United States
Issue #673 Today In Black History, Friday, July 19, 2024
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Today’s Black History WOW!
Born on July 18, 1753, in West Hartford, Connecticut, Lemuel Haynes was the son of a Black man of African descent and a White woman. Abandoned by his parents, he was indentured as a servant to the Rose family in Granville, Massachusetts, at five months of age.
He received informal education through reading and studying the Bible, classics, and other available texts. By the end of his indenture in 1774, Haynes was a free man and a self-taught scholar.
With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Haynes joined the local militia and later the Continental Army. He served with distinction until 1776.
Following his military service, Haynes felt a calling to the ministry and began to study theology. In 1780, he became the first African American ordained by a mainstream Protestant denomination.
Rev. Haynes's ministry was marked by his tenure at several congregations, most notably in Torrington, Connecticut, and West Rutland, Vermont, where he served for over 30 years. His sermons resonated with congregants and drew acclaim from both Black and white communities.
A notable aspect of Haynes's legacy is his vehement opposition to slavery. In his well-known essay, "Liberty Further Extended," penned in 1776, Haynes argued that the principles of the American Revolution demanded the abolition of slavery. His writings and orations were among the earliest and most compelling anti-slavery arguments, predating more famous abolitionist movements.
Haynes was the first Black abolitionist to reject slavery on purely theological grounds. His outspoken religious rhetoric surrounding 'slavery as a sin' was published in newspapers around the thirteen colonies. He was one of the first African American individuals to be published. Rev. Haynes's use of republican ideology and New Divinity theology in defense of liberty established Haynes as a founding father of Black Theology.
Rev. Lemuel Haynes died on September 28, 1833 (aged 80) in South Granville, New York.
Today In Black History
In 1324, Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire, arrived in Cairo on his way to Mecca, with a procession of 600,000 men, 12,000 slaves, and 80 camels carrying 300 pounds of gold each.
In 1848, Frederick Douglass was the only male to play a prominent role at the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y.
In 1867, Congress passed the 3rd Reconstruction Act over the veto of President Andrew Johnson.
In 1913, the Tri-State Dental Association, the forerunner of the National Dental Association for Black Dentists in the United States, was formed.
In 1941, the first U.S. Army flying school for Black cadets was dedicated at Tuskegee, Alabama.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to monitor discrimination against Negroes in defense industries.
In 1979, Patricia R. Harris was named Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by President Jimmy Carter as the first Black woman to hold a Cabinet position.
In 2018, the first commercial flight between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 20 years, named the “Bird of Peace,” landed in Asmara, Eritrea, reuniting families.
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