South Wilmington – Cradle of African American Political Leadership
William J. Winchester, after serving 16 years on Wilmington City Council, became the first of his race elected to the Delaware House of Representatives. He served from 1948 until his death in 1952. Herman M. Holloway, Sr., became the first African-American elected to the State Senate in 1964. Henrietta Johnson was the first African-American female […]
Gravesite of Bishop Peter Spencer and His Devoted Wife, Annes
Born a slave, Bishop Spencer was the father of Delaware’s independent Black church movement. In 1813, he founded the Union Church of Africans, presently known as the African Union Methodist Protestant Church. The mother AUMP church stood on this site from 1813 to 1970. The Union American Methodist Episcopal Church (UAME), formally organized in 1865, […]
Rosedale Beach Hotel and Resort
On this site was located the Rosedale Beach Hotel and Resort. The hotel and resort operated from the early 1900s to the 1970s. In the pre-integration era of the 20th century, there were very few places for people of color to go for entertainment and hotel accommodations. Because of this, Rosedale Beach was a destination […]
Antioch Camp Meeting
2015 Marker Text: A ‘society’ of African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in this area by the 1830’s. The First church was purchased in 1857. On February 28, 1890, land was purchased at this stie for the purpose of constructing a new church. Annual camp meetings were soon established. Known as “Big Camp” or “Frankford […]
Pilot Town
Pilot Town is the section of the Hamlet of Concord where many free African-American families have lived in harmony with the white families since around 1765. It was so named for the many black pilots who lived in the area and piloted vessels down the Nanticoke River to Chesapeake Bay. Two of the best known […]
Union Cemetery
The name Union Cemetery is derived from the fact that this burial site was created to inter deceased members affiliated with the African-American houses of worship in this area. Originally owned by James and Hester Till, the land for the cemetery was purchased on April 8, 1904 for $250.00 by Anna M. Johnson, Florence Whaley, […]
Byrd’s African Methodist Episcopal Church
In the early 1890s, Clayton was home to an increasing population of African-Americans, many of whom were railroad workers. Byrd’s African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church was built in 1894 to accommodate this growing community who previously had to walk several miles to Mount Friendship Church for services. The land was purchased from Willis C. Dickerson […]
Booker T. Washington School
On November 13, 1922, 210 children and 6 teachers marched from two old school buildings located on Slaughter Street and Division Street to a new school for African- American students in Dover. Funding for the building was provided by the Delaware School Auxiliary Association, through the generosity of P. S. duPont. The school was named […]
Delaware State College High School
On June 17, 1921, the Board of Trustees of the State College for Colored Students, later known as Delaware State College, approved a resolution recommending the establishment of a four year high school for Negro students on its campus. This was the second such institution in the state, and the first outside of Wilmington. Many […]
Delaware State College – First College for Blacks in Delaware
Established May 15, 1891, by an act of the Delaware General Assembly as the State College for Colored Students, by virtue of the 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Act and under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act of Congress. Incorporated July 1, 1891. Reincorporated March 10, 1911. Name changed to Delaware State College in 1947. KC-42: […]
