Celebrate Black Revolutionaries this February!

Born into a family that was deeply rooted in New Haven’s African American Community, Edward Bouchet (1852-1918) showed strong academic ability from an early age. Bouchet’s parents worked facilities jobs at Yale and encouraged his academic gifts and curiosity in hopes of a better life for him. Bouchet was the Hopkins School valedictorian class of 1870 before being admitted to Yale as one of the university’s first students of color.

At Yale, Bouchet focused his studies on science and mathematics. He graduated sixth in his class in 1874 and continued into Yale’s Physics PhD program. Two years later, in 1876, he received his doctorate in physics. Though he hoped to continue in scientific research, Bouchet’s career in the field was limited by barriers of race and intolerance. He moved on to teaching and administration in black schools, devoting several decades to teaching at Philadelphia’s Institute for Colored Youth and other institutions before retiring and returning home to New Haven, where he died in 1918. 

Amos Beman (1812-1872) was a social activist and a pastor at what we now know as the Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church. As a young man blocked from admission to Wesleyan University because of his race, he went on to study such varied subjects as astronomy, chemistry, theology, philosophy and Hebrew poetry, among others, at the Oneida Institute.

The congregation of his chapel, then called the Temple Street African Church, grew under his leadership, and a new building was constructed with Beman volunteering to work unpaid for years as they struggled with the costs of construction. He was a prominent abolitionist, a member of the Underground Railroad, an advocate of the African American suffrage movement, and a strong proponent of Temperance. Beman is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, and his papers can be viewed at the Yale Library.

Ella B. Scantlebury’s (1898-1996) legacy as a public servant and community leader in New Haven continues to resonate today. On July 8, 1961, she made history when Mayor Richard C. Lee appointed her city treasurer, making her the first Black person to hold an elective office in New Haven’s municipal government. She went on to serve a two-year term.

Born in London and a longtime resident of the Dixwell neighborhood, she worked for 26 years at Yale University’s Scroll and Key society while dedicating more than two decades to Democratic Party politics, including serving as Vice Chair of the Nineteenth Ward Democratic Committee. A widow and respected leader in neighborhood redevelopment efforts, Scantlebury exemplified civic dedication, quiet leadership, and perseverance until her death on September 7, 1996. Her impact is remembered not only through her groundbreaking political role, but also through the park that bears her name, Scantlebury Park. 

George Williamson Crawford (1877–1972) was a trailblazing attorney and civil rights leader whose work shaped New Haven’s legal and civic landscape. He began his education at Tuskegee Institute before earning his degree from Talladega College in 1900. Barred from attending law school in Alabama due to Jim Crow segregation, Crawford applied to and was accepted by Yale Law School, relocating to New Haven to pursue his legal career.

In 1903, Crawford graduated with honors from Yale Law School, where he received the Townsend Prize for oratory and was selected to speak at commencement, becoming only the second African American graduate of the law school. He was appointed clerk of the New Haven Probate Court and went on to practice law privately in New Haven for more than four decades.

Crawford was deeply involved in the early civil rights movement, participating in the Niagara Movement and forming a close, lifelong friendship with W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1917, he founded the New Haven branch of the NAACP, which grew to become the largest in New England under his leadership. He later served as corporation counsel for the City of New Haven from 1954 to 1962. Crawford died on August 3, 1972, and his legacy is honored through the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, named in his memory.

Constance Baker Motley (1921–2005) knew from an early age that she wanted to be a lawyer, a goal that would lead her to become one of the most influential civil rights attorneys of the 20th century. She served for 18 years as a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where she played a central role in legal challenges to racial segregation and discrimination.

During the 1960s, Motley argued ten cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, helping to shape landmark civil rights rulings. In 1964, she made history as the first Black woman elected to the New York State Senate. Two years later, she was appointed U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, becoming the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge.

Motley’s groundbreaking career was recognized with numerous honors, including the Presidential Citizens Medal, induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded posthumously. Her legacy endures as a testament to the power of the law as a tool for justice and social change.

Henry Ellsworth Parker (1928-2018) was a community leader, educator, and politician whose work had a lasting impact on New Haven and Connecticut. A star athlete at Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass High School, Parker went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in education from Hampton Institute in 1956. He moved to New Haven to direct the city’s first community school and later earned a Master of Science in Education from Southern Connecticut State University.

In the 1960s, Parker emerged as a prominent community organizer and political figure, strengthening African American Democratic constituencies in New Haven. Though he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic mayoral nomination in 1969 and 1971, he built a strong political base that paved the way for his election as Connecticut State Treasurer in 1974. He served eleven years, (the second-longest modern tenure), overseeing the state’s cash and debt management, including a $1 billion pension investment fund, and creating a $450 million home mortgage program to support New Haven and other Connecticut cities. Parker’s leadership left a lasting legacy in public service and community development.

We’d also like to spotlight a revolutionary we were unable to include in our artwork since no image of him remains. William Lanson (c.1782–1851) was a prominent African American engineer, entrepreneur, and community leader in New Haven. Likely born free, he moved to the city around 1803 and went on to make significant contributions to its infrastructure. Lanson is best known for extending Long Wharf by 1,350 feet, which allowed New Haven’s trade to flourish, and for constructing the city’s section of the Farmington Canal.

Highly respected in the Black community, Lanson was elected Black Governor from 1825 to 1830. He died in 1851 at the New Haven Almshouse. Though no photographs of him exist, his legacy is honored with a seven-foot-tall bronze statue by sculptor Dana King, created to celebrate Black figures in public art. The statue was informed by West African models and historical documents, ensuring Lanson’s impact and presence continue to be recognized in New Haven.