RECONSTRUCTION & REDEMPTION
This on-going series of portraits is centered around 19th century African American public officials from the South. During Reconstruction (1863-77), the period of political renewal in the South following the Civil War, and Redemption, the subsequent era that saw the rise of Jim Crow laws and widespread racial terror, several southern Black leaders achieved extraordinary political success and prominence despite myriad physical and institutional threats. Until Black citizens were effectively disenfranchised toward the end of the 19th century, civic life in most southern states included a racial mix of participants from local to federal offices. The title of my series refers to these periods of American history but more abstractly refers to my attempt to revisit and reward the legacies of these men.
“Benjamin F. Randolph fell as soon as the shots were fired, and upon examination was found to be mortally wounded in the head, chest and lower part fo the body… The men who killed Randolph are not known, and could not be identified, although the murder took place in broad daylight.” - Charleston Daily News, October 1868
Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs: From 1868 until 1874 Gibbs was the Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of Florida. Born free in Pennsylvania, Gibbs was educated at a private boarding school in New Hampshire and went on to attend Dartmouth as the third African American to graduate. Gibbs worked as a prominent abolitionist pastor in New York and Pennsylvania. After the Civil War, Gibbs moved to the South to help with the rebuilding of communities and the education of free blacks. In Florida, Gibbs founded a private school and became involved in state politics, leading to his appointment as Secretary of State. In this position, Gibbs directed investigations into the Ku Klux Klan.
John C. Dancy: Dancy was the collector of customs in Wilmington, NC from 1897 until 1898. Earlier in his career, he was an editor for the North Carolina Sentinel and the Star of Zion. As customs collector, he founded the National Afro-American Council along with Ida B. Wells. In 1898, he was violently forced out of office by a white mob in an armed coup.
Robert Smalls: Smalls was a slave in South Carolina. During the Civil War, he commandeered a Confederate ship and sailed enslaved people out of the Confederate city to a Union base nearby. The ship that he commandeered was then used as a Union warship. Smalls was later elected as a U.S. Congressman.
Benjamin F. Randolph: Randolph was born free in 1820 to free African-American parents in Kentucky. He studied at Oberlin College and later joined the Union Army in the Civil War. Randolph decided to stay in the South following the war in order to help rebuild society with the aim of elevating black citizens. Randolph became a State Senator in South Carolina in August 1868. He was assassinated by several members of the Ku Klux Klan just three months after coming into office.
John C. Dancy: Dancy was the collector of customs in Wilmington, NC from 1897 until 1898. Earlier in his career, he was an editor for the North Carolina Sentinel and the Star of Zion. As customs collector, he founded the National Afro-American Council along with Ida B. Wells. In 1898, he was violently forced out of office by a white mob in an armed coup.
Robert Smalls: Smalls was a slave in South Carolina. During the Civil War, he commandeered a Confederate ship and sailed enslaved people out of the Confederate city to a Union base nearby. The ship that he commandeered was then used as a Union warship. Smalls was later elected as a U.S. Congressman.
Benjamin F. Randolph: Randolph was born free in 1820 to free African-American parents in Kentucky. He studied at Oberlin College and later joined the Union Army in the Civil War. Randolph decided to stay in the South following the war in order to help rebuild society with the aim of elevating black citizens. Randolph became a State Senator in South Carolina in August 1868. He was assassinated by several members of the Ku Klux Klan just three months after coming into office.