William H. Day

William Howard Day (October 16, 1825December 3, 1900) was a black abolitionist, editor, educator and minister. After his father died when he was four, Day went to live with J. P. Williston and his wife who ensured that he received a good education and learned the printer's trade. He received his bachelor's and master's degree from Oberlin College. He was a printer and newspaper editor. He fought for civil rights of African Americans a number of ways, as a journalist, teacher, and leader of the Freedmen's Bureau. He was an orator, making a speech to 10,000 newly emancipated people on what biographer Todd Mealy called the first march on Washington. Early life Day was born free on October 16, 1825, in New York City to Eliza and John Day. Eliza was an abolitionist and a founding member of the first African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New York City. John, who was a sail maker and a veteran of the War of 1812, died when William was four years old. Eliza was left to raise four children. Day began attending school when he was four years of age. In 1834, the young Day joined Henry Highland Garnet and David Ruggles to form the all-male Garrison Literary and Benevolent Association, named for William Lloyd Garrison, an abolitionist. Soon after, riots broke out in New York City against abolitionists, which required the Days barricaded to themselves in their residence. White abolitionists John Payson Williston and his wife of Northampton, Massachusetts, became Day's guardians in 1838. Williston had seen Day speak at a publicly staged examination in New York City and had been impressed by him. With Eliza's permission, the Willistons ensured that Day received a liberal education. He also learned printing skills from Mr. Williston, an ink manufacturer. The Willistons helped people fleeing enslavement by employing them or helping them travel along the Underground Railroad.