William Howard Day — Abolitionist and Educator

William Howard Day was born in New York City and spent decades crossing the United States, Canada, and Britain arguing for the abolition of slavery and the full rights of free Black Americans. He was an orator, a minister, and an editor, wielding language as a tool for justice at a time when it cost something to do so.

After eighteen seventy, Day settled in Harrisburg, where he edited the newspaper Our National Progress. In eighteen seventy-eight he was elected to the Harrisburg School Board, reportedly the first African American to hold that position. He is also said to have served as the board's president. He also served as secretary of the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Day died in Harrisburg and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery. His life traced the arc of Black civic life in the nineteenth century, moving from the margins of protest to the center of public institutions.