Henry Highland Garnet Discussion
February 13, 2021 at 4:00 pm
via Zoom and Live Streamed via Facebook – Connection Information to follow.
Henry Highland Garnet was one of America’s most celebrated crusaders for racial justice. He was born enslaved in Kent County in 1815. He escaped from New Market (now Chesterville) with his family to New York City in 1824, obtained an excellent education, became a Presbyterian minister, and achieved fame as an abolitionist. Like his fellow escapee from slavery on the Eastern Shore, Frederick Douglass, Garnet traveled throughout the North and in Europe to advocate the emancipation of all slaves. Unlike Douglass, Garnet endorsed using force to achieve this objective. During the Civil War, he campaigned for African Americans to join the Union Army. After the war, Garnet remained active in the struggle for racial justice. In 1870, Garnet returned to Kent County to speak at a large rally celebrating passage of the 15th Amendment, which proclaimed the right of all African American males to vote. Garnet spent the last few months of his life serving as the American Ambassador to Liberia, where he was buried in 1882.
Since Henry Highland Garnet is much less well-known today than during his life, George Shivers wrote two books about the man he calls “a Kent County hero.” Sumner Hall is proud to publish these books, illustrated by Zane Carter, during Black History Month 2021.
To mark the publication, Shivers, a retired Washington College professor, will join in a conversation about Garnet with Gordon Wallace. The meeting will be offered virtually via Zoom and will also be live-streamed via Sumner Hall’s website.
Join via Zoom: click here
Watch on Facebook: click here