Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, also known as the Black Swan, was an American singer who went from slavery to the top of the musical world. She ended touring much of the world for her “remarkably sweet tones and wide vocal compass”. She passed away on this day in 1876.


Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the former enslaved peoples who endured the slavery to become a sailor, merchant, and abolitionist. He worked to buy his freedom in 1766 and became a writer with the publication of his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano in 1789. He passed away on this day in 1797.

On this day in 1988, Toni Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, Beloved. This was one of eight awards for the novel in that year!
The United States government officially purchased the ‘Dutch West Indies’ and renamed them the United States Virgin Islands. These consisted of over 50 islands, including the newly named St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John.

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