1838 Black Metropolis — People & Papers Network

1838 BLACK METROPOLIS · People & Papers Network

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This database connects people, events and organizations in Philadelphia prior to 1900. Its foundation is the 1838 and 1847 censuses of the free Black population, informed by over 30 years of research by historian Julie Winch. To this we added 19th-century newspapers that were freely available, church histories, school histories and more. This is constantly growing. Sources are listed at the bottom of the page. · build 2026-11-10 18:50

All 1838 census 1847 census Still's UGRR 1811 directory 1838 trades 1820 directory

person (selected) connected person event organization

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Select a person to see their newspaper appearances, writings, events, co-attendees, and Winch reference entry.

ORGANIZATION TIMELINES

Work in progress. These timelines are still being built and will change as we add sources.

Each row is one Black Philadelphia organization. A dot marks a year when the database has people in it; bigger dots mean more names, and a ringed dot means officers were named. A diamond marks the founding year given in the 1838 Pennsylvania Abolition Society report, and a small square marks that report’s 1837 membership count. A hollow circle marks another dated note, such as the founding dates and 1813 counts Arthur Donaldson printed in The Juvenile Magazine. The thin line runs from the first record to the last. These are the years our sources cover, not closing dates. Click a row to open its details right below it, including the 1838 report figures; click a name to open that person in the database.