Thomas Dalton (abolitionist) facts for kids

Thomas Dalton (1794–1883) was an important African American leader from Massachusetts. He worked hard to make life better for Black people. With his wife, Lucy Lew Dalton, he helped start and run many groups focused on education. These included the Massachusetts General Colored Association and the New England Anti-Slavery Society. He also fought for schools to be open to all children, no matter their race. This goal of school integration was finally reached in 1855.

Thomas and Lucy Dalton strongly believed that making schools equal and improving education for Black children in Boston would help "remove the prejudice which exists against the people of color." They thought education was the best way to fight unfair treatment.

Early Life

Thomas Dalton was born on October 17, 1794, in a town called Gloucester, Massachusetts. His father was also named Thomas Dalton.

Family Life

After moving from Gloucester to Boston, Thomas Dalton married Patience Young in 1818. Sadly, she passed away in Boston in 1832.

In 1834, Thomas married Lucy Lew Francis. Lucy was born on May 7, 1790, in Dracut, Massachusetts (which is now Lowell). She was one of 13 children. Her father, Barzillai Lew, was born a free Black man. He was a soldier in the American Revolutionary War and a musician. Lucy's mother, Dinah Bowman, was born into slavery. Around 1766, Barzillai bought Dinah's freedom for 400 pounds, which would be about $28,000 today. Lucy and her brothers and sisters went to the Coburn Mission School, where children of all races learned together.

Before marrying Thomas, Lucy Lew was married to Samuel Francis. They lived in a Black community in Boston and were active in local events.

Where Thomas Lived

Thomas Dalton lived in several places in Boston. In 1823, he worked as a bootblack and lived on Botolph Street. Later, from 1848 to 1853, he lived at 29 South Russell Street. He was still living there in 1864-1865. When he passed away in 1883, he was living on Bunker Hill Avenue in Charlestown.

Thomas Dalton's Jobs

Thomas Dalton had many different jobs during his life. He worked as a bootblack (someone who shines shoes), a waiter, and a tailor. He also owned a successful clothing store on Brattle Street.

Working for Change

Thomas Dalton was one of the successful African Americans living in Boston before the American Civil War. He was a leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Boston. Many important Black leaders who fought against slavery were also strong figures in their churches.

African Celebration

In 1820, Thomas Dalton helped lead the annual "African celebration." Newspapers called it this. This event celebrated the end of the slave trade by the United States and Great Britain. It was a very important yearly event that started around 1808. Many well-known African American community leaders took part.

Prince Hall Freemason

In 1825, Dalton joined the Prince Hall Freemasonry Lodge. He wanted to connect with others to help improve the lives of African Americans. He became the Grand Master of the lodge from 1831 to 1832 and again from 1863 to 1872. He was known as a great speaker within the group.

He also worked with David Walker (abolitionist), another person who fought against slavery. They helped publish a book by John T. Hilton in 1828.

Massachusetts General Colored Association

In 1826, several members of the Prince Hall Lodge created the Massachusetts General Colored Association. Their goal was "to promote the welfare of the race by working for the destruction of slavery." Thomas Dalton was the President of this group. Other members included Walker Lewis and David Walker (abolitionist). David Walker became the group's spokesperson and wrote an important message in 1829 called Appeal. In it, he asked, "Remember Americans, we must be as free as you are. Will you wait until we shall under God obtain our liberty by the crushing arm of power?"

New England Anti-Slavery Society

In January 1833, Thomas Dalton, as president, led the Massachusetts General Colored Association to join the New England Anti-Slavery Society. This society was started by William Lloyd Garrison, who edited an anti-slavery newspaper called The Liberator. Together, these groups organized meetings and speaking events across New England to fight against slavery.

In 1844, the Massachusetts General Colored Association published Light and Truth. This was the first history of the Black race written by an African American, Robert Benjamin Lewis. Joining the New England Anti-Slavery Society allowed more Black people from Boston to get involved in the fight against slavery.

Working for Equal Schools

Black communities in Boston had been working for better education since shortly after the American Revolutionary War. In 1787, Prince Hall asked the government for equal access to public schools. His and others' requests were turned down. Parents on Beacon Hill then started their own classes for a school in Prince Hall's son's home in 1798. Ten years later, the school moved to the African Meeting House. The city started giving some support to the school in 1812, but parents kept pushing for a regular public school. In the 1820s, the city provided two primary schools for Black children.

The Abiel Smith School was built in 1834. This happened because a white person named Abiel Smith, who cared about supporting Black education, left $4,000 in his will. This primary and grammar school was the first building in the country built specifically as a public school for African Americans.

Boston Mutual Lyceum

In the spring of 1833, before they were married, Thomas Dalton and Lucy Lew Francis helped form the Boston Mutual Lyceum. This group held educational talks for Black citizens in the Boston area. Thomas was the treasurer, and Lucy was one of the managers.

Infant School Association

Thomas Dalton, Charles V. Caples, and George Washington started the "Infant School Association." The governor of Massachusetts approved this group on February 20, 1836. The group's goal was "receiving and educating children of color preparatory to their entering higher schools." This was like setting up a kindergarten for young Black children.

Fighting for School Integration

Parents were unhappy because the Boston School Committee did not keep up the school conditions or teacher quality in the Black schools. Black children were also not allowed into Boston's high school and Latin school. The idea of having separate but equal schools in Boston did not work.

In the mid-1840s, towns like Nantucket and Salem were forced to integrate their schools after successful lawsuits. Thomas Dalton led seventy other citizens in a new effort to get their children into Boston's white public schools. With William Cooper Nell and lawyer Robert Morris, they sent requests to the Boston School Committee. They wrote, "It is very hard to retain self-respect if we see ourselves set apart and avoided as a degraded race by others. Do not say to our children that however well-behaved their very presence is in a public school, is contamination to your children."

They explained that Black schools did not offer the same level of education as the many types of white schools, including "primary, grammar, Latin and high schools."

Historian Arthur T. White wrote about these efforts: Black leaders like John T. Hilton and Thomas Dalton, along with many others, asked the school committee three times between 1844 and 1846 to end separate schools. They wanted their children to be able to go to schools in their own neighborhoods. When their requests were always turned down, Black families boycotted the schools in the late 1840s. This caused attendance at the Black schools to drop by 65%. They also worked to pass a law in the state government that would make it illegal to use race to decide who could go to school. By 1848, Black leaders hired Robert Morris, one of the first Black lawyers in America, to sue the city. They wanted the court to decide if school segregation was legal. The Boston School Committee fought against these requests and demands for eleven years. Finally, in 1855, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law that made it illegal to use race as a reason to deny someone admission to a public school in Massachusetts.

Later Years

Lucy Lew Dalton passed away from old age in Charlestown on April 12, 1865. At that time, she and Thomas were living at 29 South Russell Street.

Thomas Dalton died on August 30, 1883. He was living at 384 Bunker Hill Street. He left about $50,000 to his three nieces.