Articles by Steven Gilchrist

Over the past couple of years, I have viewed several innovative and thought-provoking cultural & historic exhibits at the Boston Public Library.  I have seen exhibits on President John Adams, artist Allan Rohan Crite, Allexandre Vattemare – a French ventriloquist, and an exhibit recognizing the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec. Earlier this year in February, I visited the BPL again and on this occasion I saw three separate but important exhibits.  The first exhibit was Right and Wrong in Boston: The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society .  Held in the Cheverus Room in the McKim Building, this display included documents and pictures concerning an influential abolitionist group in 19th century Boston.  The BFASS’s primary mission was to assist fugitive slaves by protecting them if they escaped from their owners and advocating for their emancipation.  Women of many different religious beliefs were members of the Society.  Maria Weston Chapman (1806 -1885), a well known aboliti...

A sa Philip Randolph (1889-1979) was an influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He is often overshadowed by people such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. However, Randolph played an integral role in advancing civil rights in the U.S. Randolph was born on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City Florida. Randolph's mother, Elizabeth was a seamstress and his father, James, was a minister. Randolph was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a labor union composed of African American Pullman Porters. Pullman Porters were African American men who worked as servers and waiters on trains. The Pullman Company was one of the largest employers of African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. A. Philip Randolph also helped organize the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. Randolph has been recognized in several ways for his dedication to civil rights. He was one of America’s greatest civil rights advocates. On February 3, 1989, ...