William Cooper Nell
Encyclopedia
William Cooper Nell was an African-American abolitionist, journalist
, author
, and civil servant who worked for school integration in Boston. Writing for The Liberator
and The North Star, he helped publicize the anti-slavery cause. He helped found the New England Freedom Association and later the Committee of Vigilance, to aid escaping slaves after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. His histories, Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812 (1851) and Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (1855), were the first extensive studies published of African Americans. He is noted as the first African American to serve in the federal civil service, in the post office.
, and William Guion Nell, from Charleston, South Carolina
. His father was an important figure in the abolitionist movement, having helped to create the Massachusetts General Colored Association in the 1820s. Nell encountered racial discrimination as a student. In 1829 he was passed over for an award given to excellent students upon graduation from the Smith School, apparently because of his ethnicity. The award was financially supported by the estate of anti-slavery advocate Benjamin Franklin
. The school committee instead gave Nell The Life of Ben Franklin, an autobiography.
’s newspaper The Liberator, Nell decided to challenge race-based discrimination and segregation, as his father had. Nell was particularly interested in encouraging the intellectual and social well-being of young African Americans. He was dedicated to integration and opposed the separate abolitionist organizations for blacks and whites. In his devotion to integration, he dismantled the abolitionist Massachusetts General Colored Association, which had been organized by his father.
Nell studied law in the early 1830s. He was never certified as a lawyer or admitted to the bar because he would not swear allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, as he believed it was a pro-slavery document. He was influenced by the negative opinions of William Lloyd Garrison
and Wendell Phillips
. Around this time, Nell also began his association with acclaimed white abolitionist Garrison and his newspaper The Liberator. This connection would continue until the paper’s termination in 1865. Nell fought for the ideals of Garrison throughout the abolitionist campaign.
Nell began working against the current system of segregated schools for black and white children in Massachusetts, gathering 2,000 signatures from the black community on a petition to the state legislature. In 1855 Nell and his colleagues gained a victory; segregation was ended in Boston schools. Nell also encouraged young African Americans to learn outside of the public school system. William Lloyd Garrison said of him, “Perhaps no one has done so much—certainly no one has done more—for the intellectual and moral improvement of our colored youth.”
In 1843, Nell continued his crusade against segregation within the abolitionist movement by denouncing the Buffalo National Negro Convention. He claimed they served as, and promoted, exactly the type of separate abolitionism he was fighting against. On the other hand, he was influential in beginning the New England Freedom Association, an all-black organization which helped fugitive slaves in the North. In this case, Nell supported an African-American group since he believed its cause was closer to the hearts of blacks than whites. Nell publicized the Freedom Association's direct aid to fugitive slaves as well as the abolitionist cause.
He was a leader in campaigns to desegregate public facilities: the Boston railroad (1843) and Boston performance halls (1853).
on his abolitionist publication, The North Star
, from 1848 until 1851. He ended his work with Douglass during the latter’s feud with his close friend Garrison. Nell ended all contact with Douglass when the leader advocated the Colored National Council and the Manual Labor School, which represented the types of segregated institutions which Nell detested.
In 1850, Nell ran as a Free-Soil candidate for the legislature in Massachusetts, but lost. Passage of the federal Fugitive Slave Law that year required state law enforcement to aid in the recapture of slaves and increased penalties for those who helped them. Nell was inspired to renew his fight against slavery. He created the Committee of Vigilance, whose members swore to aid escaped slaves; it served a similar purpose to the Freedom Association of 1842, but was illegal under the new law. Nell also supported the “Underground Railroad
”. In 1851, he and other petitioners requested money from the state legislature to commission a monument to Crispus Attucks
, one of the first martyrs of the American Revolution
. During 1855, The Liberator employed Nell to journey around the Midwest and study African-American anti-slavery efforts.
Nell was outraged by the US Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford
ruling in 1857, which said that ethnic Africans had no legal standing as they were not considered citizens under the Constitution. He organized a memorial celebration of the black Revolutionary martyr Crispus Attucks
at Faneuil Hall
, a traditional site of commemoration. He reminded people of the participation of African Americans in the fight for independence from Great Britain, and helped have Attucks recognized in the commemoration of the Boston Massacre
That same year, Nell organized the Convention of Colored Citizens of New England. While it was contrary to his earlier dislike of segregated abolitionist efforts, he argued that the Scott decision was such an insult to blacks that they needed to act separately.
In his time apart from the newspapers, Nell worked for legislation to allow blacks into the Massachusetts militia. He did not succeed in this but lived to see blacks serve in United States forces during the Civil War.
. In 1861, he became a postal clerk in Boston, earning the distinction of becoming the first African American to serve in the federal civil service.
On April 14, 1869, Nell married Frances Ann Ames, the twenty-six year old daughter of Philip Osgood Ames, a barber
of Nashua
, New Hampshire
and his wife Lucy B. (Drake) Ames. The Nells would have two sons, William Cooper, Jr. (1870-92) and Frank Ames (1872-81).
Nell’s career in civil rights ended when he died of a stroke
in 1874 at the age of 58. His wife survived him by over twenty years, dying in Nashua on September 13, 1895.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and civil servant who worked for school integration in Boston. Writing for The Liberator
The Liberator
The Liberator was an abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831. Garrison published weekly issues of The Liberator from Boston continuously for 35 years, from January 1, 1831, to the final issue of January 1, 1866...
and The North Star, he helped publicize the anti-slavery cause. He helped found the New England Freedom Association and later the Committee of Vigilance, to aid escaping slaves after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. His histories, Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812 (1851) and Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (1855), were the first extensive studies published of African Americans. He is noted as the first African American to serve in the federal civil service, in the post office.
Early years
Nell was born in 1816 in Boston, Massachusetts to Louise Cooper, from BrooklineBrookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
, and William Guion Nell, from Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. His father was an important figure in the abolitionist movement, having helped to create the Massachusetts General Colored Association in the 1820s. Nell encountered racial discrimination as a student. In 1829 he was passed over for an award given to excellent students upon graduation from the Smith School, apparently because of his ethnicity. The award was financially supported by the estate of anti-slavery advocate Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
. The school committee instead gave Nell The Life of Ben Franklin, an autobiography.
Abolitionist work
Inspired by the founding of William Lloyd GarrisonWilliam Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
’s newspaper The Liberator, Nell decided to challenge race-based discrimination and segregation, as his father had. Nell was particularly interested in encouraging the intellectual and social well-being of young African Americans. He was dedicated to integration and opposed the separate abolitionist organizations for blacks and whites. In his devotion to integration, he dismantled the abolitionist Massachusetts General Colored Association, which had been organized by his father.
Nell studied law in the early 1830s. He was never certified as a lawyer or admitted to the bar because he would not swear allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, as he believed it was a pro-slavery document. He was influenced by the negative opinions of William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
and Wendell Phillips
Wendell Phillips
Wendell Phillips was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, and orator. He was an exceptional orator and agitator, advocate and lawyer, writer and debater.-Education:...
. Around this time, Nell also began his association with acclaimed white abolitionist Garrison and his newspaper The Liberator. This connection would continue until the paper’s termination in 1865. Nell fought for the ideals of Garrison throughout the abolitionist campaign.
Nell began working against the current system of segregated schools for black and white children in Massachusetts, gathering 2,000 signatures from the black community on a petition to the state legislature. In 1855 Nell and his colleagues gained a victory; segregation was ended in Boston schools. Nell also encouraged young African Americans to learn outside of the public school system. William Lloyd Garrison said of him, “Perhaps no one has done so much—certainly no one has done more—for the intellectual and moral improvement of our colored youth.”
In 1843, Nell continued his crusade against segregation within the abolitionist movement by denouncing the Buffalo National Negro Convention. He claimed they served as, and promoted, exactly the type of separate abolitionism he was fighting against. On the other hand, he was influential in beginning the New England Freedom Association, an all-black organization which helped fugitive slaves in the North. In this case, Nell supported an African-American group since he believed its cause was closer to the hearts of blacks than whites. Nell publicized the Freedom Association's direct aid to fugitive slaves as well as the abolitionist cause.
He was a leader in campaigns to desegregate public facilities: the Boston railroad (1843) and Boston performance halls (1853).
Later efforts
Nell worked with Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
on his abolitionist publication, The North Star
North Star (newspaper)
The North Star was an anti-slavery newspaper. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass published the North Star until June 1851, when Douglass and Gerrit Smith agreed to merge the North Star with the Liberty Party Paper to form Frederick Douglass's Paper...
, from 1848 until 1851. He ended his work with Douglass during the latter’s feud with his close friend Garrison. Nell ended all contact with Douglass when the leader advocated the Colored National Council and the Manual Labor School, which represented the types of segregated institutions which Nell detested.
In 1850, Nell ran as a Free-Soil candidate for the legislature in Massachusetts, but lost. Passage of the federal Fugitive Slave Law that year required state law enforcement to aid in the recapture of slaves and increased penalties for those who helped them. Nell was inspired to renew his fight against slavery. He created the Committee of Vigilance, whose members swore to aid escaped slaves; it served a similar purpose to the Freedom Association of 1842, but was illegal under the new law. Nell also supported the “Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
”. In 1851, he and other petitioners requested money from the state legislature to commission a monument to Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks was a dockworker of Wampanoag and African descent. He was the first person shot to death by British redcoats during the Boston Massacre, in Boston, Massachusetts...
, one of the first martyrs of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. During 1855, The Liberator employed Nell to journey around the Midwest and study African-American anti-slavery efforts.
Nell was outraged by the US Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...
ruling in 1857, which said that ethnic Africans had no legal standing as they were not considered citizens under the Constitution. He organized a memorial celebration of the black Revolutionary martyr Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks was a dockworker of Wampanoag and African descent. He was the first person shot to death by British redcoats during the Boston Massacre, in Boston, Massachusetts...
at Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
, a traditional site of commemoration. He reminded people of the participation of African Americans in the fight for independence from Great Britain, and helped have Attucks recognized in the commemoration of the Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre, called the Boston Riot by the British, was an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support...
That same year, Nell organized the Convention of Colored Citizens of New England. While it was contrary to his earlier dislike of segregated abolitionist efforts, he argued that the Scott decision was such an insult to blacks that they needed to act separately.
In his time apart from the newspapers, Nell worked for legislation to allow blacks into the Massachusetts militia. He did not succeed in this but lived to see blacks serve in United States forces during the Civil War.
The Civil War and later years
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Nell worked to have blacks accepted as soldiers in the Union ArmyUnion Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. In 1861, he became a postal clerk in Boston, earning the distinction of becoming the first African American to serve in the federal civil service.
On April 14, 1869, Nell married Frances Ann Ames, the twenty-six year old daughter of Philip Osgood Ames, a barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
of Nashua
Nashua
Nashua may refer to:* Nashaway, Native American tribe living in 17th-century New England-Places:In the Commonwealth of Australia:* Nashua, New South WalesIn the United States of America:* Nashua, California* Nashua, Iowa...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and his wife Lucy B. (Drake) Ames. The Nells would have two sons, William Cooper, Jr. (1870-92) and Frank Ames (1872-81).
Nell’s career in civil rights ended when he died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1874 at the age of 58. His wife survived him by over twenty years, dying in Nashua on September 13, 1895.
Works by Nell
- Introductions by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Wendell Phillips, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution: With Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons, Boston: Robert F. Wallcut, 1855.
External links
- William Cooper Nell at the African American RegistryAfrican American RegistryAfrican American Registry is a non-profit educational resource for the learning community to supply teachers with the information, method, and materials to provide a solid educational background in black history and heritage, in the sciences, business, the arts, and all facets of academics and...