John Brown Russwurm

Russwurm moved to New York City in 1827. The New York City of their day boasted the largest population of Blacks in any Northern city—an estimated 15,000, which was 10 percent of the 150,000 free "colored" people living in the North. By the early 1800s, these free Blacks and escaped slaves, who lived in a segregated world, had developed their own churches, schools and clubs. In a country that kept 90 percent of Black people in bondage, these institutions provided more than social outlets, they meant survival.[8] On March 16 of that year, 27-year-old[9] Russwurm, along with his co-editor Samuel Cornish, published the first edition of Freedom's Journal, an abolitionist newspaper dedicated to opposition of slavery. Freedom's Journal was the first newspaper in the United States to be owned, operated, published and edited by African Americans.[10] During his tenure as editor, Russwurm regularly included material about ancient and modern African history, providing readers on both sides of the Atlantic with a curated source of information about the continent. The literary education Russwurm provided in the Herald also included canonical texts of English literary education. In the poetry column of this first issue, for example, he reprinted "Prediction of the Origin of Rome", an excerpt from John Ring.[11]

When Cornish resigned from the paper in September 1827, Russwurm used his position to advocate for voluntary emigration of Black people from the United States to Africa. Although such ideas were unpopular with many in the Black leadership, and despite Russwurm's reservations about the American Colonization Society's racist tendencies, Russwurm believed that Black people were more likely to prosper in Africa than in the United States. As a result, he resigned as editor in March 1829 and emigrated to Liberia.[6] Cornish, who rejected emigration, started a new paper, The Rights of All.[12] Freedom's Journal may have only lasted two years, but it quickly opened the door for a wave of Black newspapers. By the time the Civil War started, there were more than 40 Black-owned and -operated newspapers in the United States.[13]

Upon emigrating to Liberia, Russwurm started work as the colonial secretary for the American Colonization Society, serving from 1830 to 1834. He worked as the editor of the Liberia Herald He resigned from this post in 1835 to protest America's colonization policies. Russwurm wanted to exercise power in the political arena, and felt that Liberia offered him that opportunity while the United States did not. Furthermore, because the United States was not the land of his birth, he did not feel any strong allegiance to it.[14] Russwurm also served as the superintendent of education in Liberia's capital, Monrovia.[15]

In 1836 he became the first Black governor of Maryland in Africa, a colony that later became part of Liberia in 1857. He held this post until his death in Cape Palmas on June 9, 1851.[16] He continued to encourage the immigration of African Americans to the Republic of Maryland, and supported its development of agriculture and trade. During his time in Liberia, Russwurm learned several of the native languages. He encouraged trade and diplomatic relations with neighboring countries as well as with European nations.