Civil rights march – ‘March to the Post Office’ – in Washington PA in April 1964.
Photo credit: Observer-Reporter
Understanding our history is critical to building our future communities. It is not an accident that many of us did not learn the rich history of resistance and work to fight for respect and dignity for all people that happened right in our backyards: It was left out to help push a false narrative that we conform to the wants of those in power, even though that often comes at the expense of our communities’ needs. In honor of Black History Month, we pulled together some of the highlights of fighting for racial justice that is rooted right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.
– Veronica Coptis, CCJ Executive Director
Check out the Washington County Historical Society’s (WCHS) “Laid Back History” celebrating our region’s Black history this Black History Month. Watch it here.
Early History
Early in our nation’s history, Pennsylvania became a crossroads for racial justice. Pennsylvania’s border with Virginia (West Virginia didn’t yet exist) made it a crucial first stop in many enslaved people’s route to freedom across the Mason-Dixon Line. Western Pennsylvania was on the “frontier” of the country and often had more in common with (West) Virginia than Philadelphia – which was a center for the slavery abolition movement.
While some in Southwestern Pennsylvania wanted to cling to slavery, there was still a movement for justice from the very beginning. In 1789, the “Washington Society for the Relief of Free Negroes and others unlawfully held in Bondage” was formed in Washington, Pennsylvania (1). While the society only formally lasted until 1793, Washington remained a crucial stop in the “Underground Railroad.”
Underground Railroad
Major Underground Railroad routes – while Southwestern Pennsylvania was not a primary route, it was still an important one. Source: National Geographic
The “Underground Railroad” was a network of safe houses and people willing to help enslaved people escape to freedom into the Northern United States and Canada. Several historically important participants in the Underground Railroad from Washington County include Francis Julius LeMoyne and Samuel McFarland.
Additionally, throughout rural Southwestern Pennsylvania, you can find “Lawn Jockeys,” which some people think are racist symbols. In reality, they were used as symbols to mark “safe houses” in the Underground Railroad (2). Their outfits and adornments would mark different messages for people on their journey to freedom, such as “keep going” or “sleep here.”
“Lawn Jockey”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
However, much of the history about the Underground Railroad that was recorded focuses on wealthy white men. Still, the truth is that many people assisted in The Underground Railroad and Abolition Movement from all class backgrounds and races.
“For example, on April 1, 1858, Robert Stump of Virginia, bounty hunter Peter Heck of Uniontown, and a deputy marshal for the western district of Pennsylvania entered Blairsville looking for Richard Newman, a free slave who had been living in the area for almost six years. They attempted to kidnap Newman, but a mob interceded to protect him. The slave catchers were driven out of town.”
– Underground Railroad: ‘Inner light’ guided abolitionists; many stops in region by David Sutor (3)
You can read more about the Underground Railroad in Washington County in the book “Abandoned Tracks” by Dr. Thomas Mainwaring (4).
LeMoyne House
LeMoyne House in Washington, PA
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The first National Historic Landmark of the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania was the LeMoyne House in Washington, Pennsylvania. The house was built in 1812 and in the mid-1800s became an important stop in the Underground Railroad as slaves escaped from Virginia and Maryland. This was also when the “Fugitive Slave Act” gave harsh penalties to those harboring runaway slaves. Francis Julius LeMoyne was an accomplished physician (he also built the first crematory in the Western Hemisphere) with a strong moral compass who risked everything to stand against slavery. Francis LeMoyne was also passionate about the importance of education and specifically education for women (5). If you are in Washington (or even live there and haven’t been!), check out the LeMoyne house because it is an incredible museum and home to the Washington County Historical Society.
Civil Rights
The Civil Rights Movement in Southwestern Pennsylvania was intertwined with economic and labor justice issues. As explained in “Here from the beginning: Honoring Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Black history”:
“There’s a long history of unions discriminating against qualified African Americans,” [Samuel] Black said. Pittsburgh is well-known for being at the center of the American labor movement, but the rights won by white workers were not always extended to their Black counterparts, [Samuel Black, director of African-American programs at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh] said.
“If you look deeper, you would say, ‘hey, this is no different than a lot of other things in the American society, especially in the 20th century, where discrimination is existing,’ ” he said. The history of Southwestern Pennsylvania is inseparable from the history of its Black residents, Black added. “African Americans were a vital part of the development of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania from the very beginning,” he said. “African Americans were here during the French and Indian War. They settled in Pittsburgh, operated businesses in the 18th and early 19th centuries … served in every war, were slaves, fought for freedom.”
Coal Miners in Montour No. 4 Mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company in Cecil, PA.
Source: John Collier
The Civil Rights Movement in Washington County was largely led by the NAACP’s local chapter (which is still active today) and local churches. For further reading about the important years 1960-1975 of the Washington, PA branch of the NAACP, check out this document, which was provided by Phyllis Waller, former President of the Washington branch.
Washington County Civil Rights Demonstration, 1960s
Source: NAACP Washington County
Washington County NAACP today
Source: NAACP Washington County
Black Lives Matter March in Canonsburg in June 2020
Source: Kristen Locy
Some leaders in the BLM Washington Chapter June 2020
Source: BLM Wash
Hometown Heroes
Martin Delaney
Martin Delany, c. 1847. Called the father of Black Nationalism, this rare image captures Delany, already an abolitionist, writer, publisher, and journalist at this point in his life. Courtesy of Floyd Thomas.
Source: Heinz History Center
Martin Delany is well-known in Pittsburgh history. He was an active abolitionist, a physician, a newspaper writer and editor, and started the first Black newspaper called The Mystery. Originally from Virginia (now West Virginia), he was interested in practicing medicine and was also a talented and eloquent writer. As a young adult, he walked 160 miles to Pennsylvania to continue his education as he attended Bethel Church School for Blacks and also studied at Jefferson College. Most notably, in Washington history, he apprenticed with Dr. Francis LeMoyne to learn more about medicine. He was one of the first blacks to attend medical school at Harvard and later practiced medicine in Pittsburgh. Delany went on to become a doctor, serve as a Civil War major and work with Fredrick Douglass at The North Star newspaper. We honor Delany’s efforts in Black History Month, and remember the teachings that he received from Dr. LeMoyne as he became such a respectable figure in the region’s history.
– WCHS
James “Cookie” McDonald
James “Cookie” McDonald
Source: WCHS
James “Cookie” McDonald has always called Washington home, and it has been in Washington that he’s tried to apply all his life lessons for the betterment of his community. As a young U.S. Army serviceman stationed in Virginia, Georgia and Texas, Jim McDonald encountered the effects of entrenched, systemic racism on a first-hand basis. He applied these experiences, awful as they were, to help build a community where his grandchildren would not need to endure the same things he did.
McDonald served as President of the NAACP’s Washington Branch from 1966 to 1970. The Washington Branch’s activities during this period were characterized by McDonald’s proactive vision for equal opportunity in the workplace. Another hallmark of McDonald’s leadership during this critical period was his tireless work to ensure that the violent confrontations that occurred in other cities in the late 1960s did not occur here in Washington. To this end, McDonald traveled to Mississippi to meet the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and to the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles which had been torn by riots in 1965. This allowed him to bear witness to what had transpired previously in these places and to help achieve sustainable social justice reforms in his own community by the most peaceful means possible. Also, as a member of the School Board, Jim continued efforts toward the integration of the Washington School system. In recognition of these efforts, he was the recipient of the NAACP’s Human Rights Award in 1970.
On March 11, 2020 the Washington County Historical Society was proud to induct James “Cookie” McDonald into the Washington County Historical Society Hall of Fame.
– WCHS
To read an interview with James R. “Cookie” McDonald’s daughter, Judge Traci McDonald-Kemp, read our blog Five Women of Color Creating a Better Community in Washington County.
Louis Edward Waller
Louis Edward Waller
Source: WCHS
“The barrier-breaking achievements of Louis Edward Waller during life are immeasurable. The honors and awards he so deservingly received are innumerable. Indeed, Lou Waller was a beacon of civic leadership for an entire community. He was a pioneering leader in civil rights, in business, in philanthropy, and community service.
Racial inequality and segregation were still widespread in the 1950s. Lou was among many that suffered this reality first-hand. At one job, for example, Lou was told to go in the back so he wouldn’t have to be seen by customers. In another case, when Lou’s wife Shirley gave birth to their first child in the hospital, she was not permitted to recover in the same room as a white mother who had just given birth. Instead, Shirley recovered in the hallway.
In 1959, feeling he had a higher calling, Lou took office as President of the NAACP’s Washington Branch. Among the many initiatives of his tenure at the NAACP, Waller helped bring about a public discourse toward the elimination of de facto segregation in Washington’s school system which had persisted even after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The swimming pool at Washington Park was integrated. And in 1964, Lou Waller organized and led the ‘‘March to the Post Office’t to urge passage of Civil Rights legislation.
The March was an iconic moment captured in time. Lou Waller was just 35 years old.
The official history of the NAACP’s Washington Branch recorded that “At a time when communication was sorely needed between the black and white communities, Lou Waller’s talents surfaced and were invaluable. He was able to communicate the needs, frustrations and problems of the black community…”
When describing his particular approach to the cause, Lou himself said: “Yes, you can get people’s attention by throwing pebbles at the window, but you get more attention if you are able to be where the decisions are made…”
In recognition of these accomplishments, Lou Waller received the NAACP’s Human Rights Award in 1965. In 1970, Waller was appointed as President of the Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches.
On March 11, 2020 in recognition of his incredible achievements and his work in the Civil Rights Movement, Lou Waller was inducted into the Washington County Historical Society Hall of Fame.”
– WCHS
See the video about Louis Edward Waller here, and for further reading about the important years 1960-1975 of the Washington, PA branch of the NAACP, check out this document, provided by Lou’s daughter (and former NAACP Washington branch President) Phyllis Waller.
A huge thank you to all the amazing research done by the Washington County Historical Society that contributed to this blog!
Sources:
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Washington County Pennsylvania in the Eighteenth Century Antislavery Movement, Whitfield J Bell Jr
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https://www.loudounhistory.org/history/underground-railroad-jockey-statues/
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https://www.wchspa.org/leymoynehouse
