A timeline tracing the history of Black travelers through the centuries
Guion Stewart “Guy” Bluford, Jr., was the first African American astronaut. Between 1983-1992, Bluford traveled “out of this world” four times, beginning with a ride on the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. This first flight was on August 30th, 1983. References: Anderson, Brian. April 16, 2021. “Innovator’s Spotlight:.. Read More…
Mary Fields (1832–1914) also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary was the first African American woman employed as a stagecoach mail carrier in the United States. In 1895, she hitched a team of six horses faster than all the other job applicants and was hired on the spot. She.. Read More…
Charles Young (March 12, 1864 – January 8, 1922) achieved many honors in the United States military. He was the third African-American to graduate from the United States Military Academy, the first black military attaché, and the first Black man to achieve the rank of colonel in the United States.. Read More…
Mary Seacole was a nurse, world traveler and businesswoman. She traveled from her home in Jamaica to Panama, England, and Ukraine and set up the “British Hotel” behind the lines during the Crimean War. Based on her life experiences, she wrote her autobiography titled “Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in.. Read More…
Nancy Gardner Prince (September 15, 1799 – c. 1856) was a businesswoman and missionary who sailed to Russia and the Caribbean starting in the 1820s. In 1850, she wrote what may have very well been the first travel book written by an African American woman entitled, “A Narrative of the.. Read More…
In 1859, Martin Robison Delany, physician, abolitionist, journalist, military officer, and the father of Black Nationalism, led an African American exploring party to Niger Valley in hopes to find a homeland for African American repatriation. Delany who was the only Black officer to receive the rank of Major during the.. Read More…
Paul Cuffee spearheaded the first Black ‘Back to Africa’ initiative in United States history. He was also the first free African American to visit the White House and have an audience with a sitting president. As a young man, he worked as a whaling ship captain. He eventually saved enough.. Read More…
Poet and writer, Phillis Wheatley, sailed to England in 1773 with her slave master, Nathaniel Wheatley in search of a publisher for her work because none was available in the United States. Her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in London on September 1, 1773 by.. Read More…
Yanga is a municipality located in the southern area of the State of Veracruz. In 1932 it was renamed after Gaspar Yanga, the cimarron leader who in 1609 resisted an attack by Spanish forces trying to regain control of the area. Despite the enslaving and indentured labor of a high.. Read More…
In 1955, during the decade known as “the golden age of travel,” Freddye Henderson and her husband, Jacob, opened Henderson Travel Service in Atlanta to assist African-Americans who wanted to travel internationally. The agency planned and booked thousands of trips for black travelers, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1964.. Read More…