| Birth: | 1812
Charleston
Kanawha County
West Virginia, USA | | Death: | Jan. 24, 1885
Xenia
Greene County
Ohio, USA | 
Martin Delaney was a civil rights activist and an emigrationist. He was the youngest of seven children born to Samuel and Patti Delaney in Charlestown, West Virginia. His father was a prisoner-of-war but his mother was free, having been born after her parents had attained their freedom. Young Delaney was free because, under Virginia law, African children inherited the status of their mother.
Though free, Delaney was not immune from racism. One memorable experience occurred when he accompanied his white playmates to school and white adults grabbed him and prevented him from entering the classroom. Undeterred, he spent the next few days behind the classroom window, eavesdropping on the lessons. He acquired a copy of a reading and spelling primer from a trader. At that time, white people passed laws making it a crime for Blacks to be educated so the family kept the book a secret and held night study sessions. Rumors spread among whites that the Delaneys had violated the law, and jail was on the horizon. His mother escaped with the children to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His dad joined them several years later after he bought his freedom.
Delaney's mahogany-rich skin color made him a prime target for discrimination from whites, but he projected his richly pigmented features as a mark of distinction.
In Pittsburgh, Delaney committed himself to fighting the enemies of his race. He connected with Blacks, most of whom were economically self-made men who cherished the values of thrift, industry, education, and who made the effort to end African captivity by demonstrating its immorality.
After high school, Delaney apprenticed himself to Dr. McDowell, a leading Pittsburgh physician, to train as a medical assistant specializing in "bleeding, cupping, and leeching." Around 1861, Delaney became a Civil War activist urging Blacks to join the Union forces this contributing to the destruction of African captivity. Seeing the work that Delaney had done, President Lincoln commissioned him as the first Black combat major in the Union Army.
In 1879, Delaney published Principles of Ethnology: The Origins of Races and Color. It had an archaeological compendium of Ethiopian and Egyptian civilization. It was a work that refuted notions of Black inferiority and traced the origins of civilization to Black Africa. He wrote Search For a Place: Black Separatism and Africa. In 1884, Delaney fell ill in Xenia, Ohio, where his family had settled. He died on January 24, 1885.
| | | Burial:
Unknown |
Created by: Ronald Walton
Record added: Feb 23, 2005
Find A Grave Memorial# 10519618 |
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Added by:
Ronald Walton
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