✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #03

 

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #03
Voices of the “Black Second” – Congressmen of Courage 🏛️🗳️📜

Meet two groundbreaking statesmen who brought North Carolina’s Black Reconstruction voice to Washington:

• John Adams Hyman (1840–1891)
  • Born enslaved in Warren County, NC; bought his freedom by 1865
  • Elected to NC Senate (1868, 1870), championed Black suffrage & public education
  • First Black U.S. Representative from NC (2nd District, 1875–77)
  • Denounced lynching & pushed for federal support of Southern schools
  • Passed at 51 after battling political retaliation & financial hardship

• James Edward O’Hara (1844–1905)
  • Born free in New Bern to Jamaican and Irish parents
  • Self-taught legal scholar; passed NC bar in 1873 amid racial exclusion
  • NC House (1883), then U.S. House (2nd District, 1883–87), succeeding Hyman
  • Advocated for the 1883 Civil Rights Bill & equal rail accommodations 🚂
  • Practiced law, taught, and passed away in London at 61

🎉 Walk in their footsteps this February during the
👉🏾 28^th Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Tour^sm 2026
🎟️ Reserve now at: charlottepilgrimagetour.com

#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #BlackSecond #JohnAdamsHyman #JamesEOHara #QCTHeritage #CongressionalTrailblazers #ReconstructionEra #CivilRightsHistory #CharlotteTours #HiddenHistory #BlackVoicesMatter #NCPolitics #LegacyLeadership

📚 Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_Hyman
https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/john-adams-hyman-1840-1891/
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/13/john-hyman-1840-1891-e-101
https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/james-edward-ohara-1844-1905/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._O%27Hara
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/ohara-james-edward

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #02

 

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #02
Resistance. Leadership. Legacy. 🗳️🔥📜

Meet two extraordinary freedom fighters who turned resistance into Reconstruction-era leadership:

• James Henry Harris (c.1832–1891)
  • Born enslaved, rose to become an educator & Republican organizer
  • Among the first Black NC state senators (Wake County, 1868)
  • Helped draft NC’s 1868 Constitution, securing Black suffrage 🖋️
  • Defended public schools & civil rights while resisting Klan violence
  • Led as a teacher and principal in Raleigh until his death

• Abraham Harris Galloway (1837–1870)
  • Born enslaved in Smithville, NC; escaped North in 1857
  • Union spy, soldier recruiter, and suffrage advocate 💣
  • Met with Lincoln in 1864 to demand voting rights for Black troops
  • Elected state senator (New Hanover, 1868 & 1870)
  • Championed anti-Klan laws, land rights & women’s equality
  • Passed at age 33—6,000+ mourners filled Wilmington in his honor 🕯️

🎉 Honor their impact this February on the
👉🏾 28^th Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Tour^sm 2026
🎟️ Tickets & details at: charlottepilgrimagetour.com

#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #NCReconstruction #JamesHenryHarris #AbrahamGalloway #QCTHeritage #Trailblazers #FreedmenPolitics #CivilRightsPioneers #BlackHistoryUncovered #CharlotteTours #HiddenHistory #VoteLegacy

📚 Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harris_(North_Carolina_politician)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Galloway
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/harris-james-henry
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/galloway-abraham
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/22/james-h-harris-1832-1891-h-86
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/11/abraham-galloway-1837-1870-d-114

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #01

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #01

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #01
Trailblazers of Charlotte’s Black Legacy 🏛️🗳️📚

Did you know Charlotte’s Black history was shaped by pioneers like Rev. Daniel Jackson Sanders (1847–1907), the first Black president of what is now Johnson C. Smith University, and Henry Eppes (1830–1903), a groundbreaking NC state legislator from Halifax County who helped shape Reconstruction-era politics in 1868? 🏫⚖️

These visionaries broke barriers in education and public service, laying the groundwork for generations of Black leadership and equity in North Carolina. Their legacy lives on in the Queen City and across the state. 🌍🕊️

🎉 Walk their path this February during the
👉🏾 28^th Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Tour^sm 2026 –
an immersive Black History Month experience through time and triumph.
🔗 charlottepilgrimagetour.com

#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #QueenCityHistory #ReconstructionEra #QCTHeritage #Trailblazers #JCSU #HalifaxCounty #NCPolitics #LegacyInStone #CharlotteTours #HiddenHistory #HistoryMakers

📚 Sources:

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/sanders-daniel-jackson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Sanders
https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/blogs/historical-society-blog/african-american-leaders-rev-daniel-jackson-sanders
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Eppes
https://www.ncpedia.org/eppes-henry

🪧 BHM 2026 by QCT | Post #10 🎓 The Myth of Freedom Without Land (1865)

🪧 BHM 2026 by QCT | Post #10

🎓 The Myth of Freedom Without Land (1865)

In 1865, the end of the Civil War ⚔️ and the passage of the 13th Amendment 📜 meant more than just headlines for North Carolina—it meant sudden, risky freedom for roughly 350,000 Black people 🧑🏿‍🌾 who had been enslaved, living among about 650,000 whites 🤍 in the state.

This new freedom came with no land 🌾, no compensation 💰, and no real support 🚫 for people deliberately denied education 📚, property rights 🏠, and wage autonomy 💼 for generations.

Many newly freed Black North Carolinians tried to survive by working for white landowners 👨🏻‍🌾 or by following Union forces 🇺🇸, hoping the U.S. government would honor General Sherman’s promise of “🌾40 acres and a 🐴 mule.” That promise was revoked ❌ in Washington, leaving Black families still taking orders without the tools to build independence.

The result for many was tenant farming and sharecropping 🌱 — systems that kept Black laborers tied to white-owned land through debt 💸, manipulative contracts 📑, and economic dependency ⛓️.

To counteract Southern resistance 🛑, Radical Republicans in Congress 🏛️ created the Freedmen’s Bureau 🏫 to assist with work, justice ⚖️, and education 🎓. But white Southerners pushed back, accusing it of “stirring up trouble” simply for challenging the old racial order 🧱.

This isn’t about “Black people not knowing how to take care of themselves” 🙄 — it’s about a federal government that ended slavery without offering land, protection, or structural support 🧱, while white supremacists rebuilt the old system under a new name 📉.

📢 Freedom without resources is just another form of control.
💡 True freedom requires ownership, protection, and opportunity.

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📅 Event Details

🚌 Tour: 28th Annual Queen City Tours® Charlotte Black/African-American Heritage Tour
📍 Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
🗓️ Dates: February 1–28, 2026 (Black History Month)
🕒 Times: Daily @ 10:00 AM & 1:00 PM
🌐 Website: https://charlottepilgrimagetour.com
📞 Contact: (704) 566-0104 | info@queencitytours.com

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📲 Hashtags

#BHM2026 #QueenCityTours #CharlotteBlackHistory #ReconstructionEra #FreedmensBureau #BlackHeritageTour #40AcresAndAMule #BlackHistoryMatters #SharecroppingTruths #TeachTheTruth #CivilWarLegacy #BlackEconomicHistory #CharlotteNC #QCTLegacy #HiddenHistoryRevealed

• North Carolina's population and enslaved people in 1865:
  https://www.ncpedia.org/quick-facts/north-carolina-population-1860

• The Freedmen’s Bureau and its work in North Carolina:
  https://www.freedmensbureau.archives.gov/

• General Sherman’s Special Field Orders No. 15 (“40 acres and a mule”):
  https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/freedmens-bureau

• Sharecropping and tenant farming after the Civil War:
  https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/sharecropping

• Radical Republicans and Reconstruction policies:
  https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction

• Education and racial segregation in the South after slavery:
  https://www.nationalmuseumofafricanamericanhistory.org/explore/stories/segregation

🪧 BHM 2026 by QCT | Post #9 🔁 #OnThisDayHistory (1864–1869)

BHM 2026 by QCT | Post #9

#OnThisDayHistory (1864–1869)

Did you know? Abraham Lincoln’s 1864 re-election was under the National Union Party, not just the Republican banner. His running mate? Andrew Johnson, a Southern Unionist from Raleigh, NC.

Johnson despised the wealthy Confederate elite and initially barred them from U.S. citizenship without a pardon. But as President, he failed to protect Black freedom, letting former enslavers return to power during Reconstruction.

Johnson appointed NC's William W. Holden as governor—who later presided over the 1869 state legislature that formally abolished slavery in North Carolina.

This era was messy and layered—a battle between punishing traitors and redefining freedom.

History isn’t clean—it’s complex.

#Lincoln #AndrewJohnson #ReconstructionEra #BlackHistory365 #NorthCarolinaHistory #USPresidents #SlaveryAbolition #CivilWarHistory #OnThisDay #BHM2026 #queencitytours

Charlotte Pilgrimage Tour – Black History Month 2026

Early Bird Special: 50% OFF until January 1, 2026

Charlotte, North Carolina

https://charlottepilgrimagetour.com

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/.../National_Union_Party_(United...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1864_National_Union_National_Convention​

https://millercenter.org/president/johnson/domestic-affairs​

https://millercenter.org/president/johnson/campaigns-and-elections​

https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/andrew-johnson-1808-1875/​

https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/after_slavery_educator/unit_one_documents/andrew-appoints-holden​

https://www.historynet.com/remarkable-william-woods-holden/​

https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/267598/​

https://www.perlego.com/index/history/andrew-johnson-reconstruction-plan​