Our Inspiration

Peter Thomas Stanford (February 21, 1858 – May 20, 1909) was an African American minister and writer who was born into slavery near Hampton, Virginia. After both of his parents were sold to different plantations, he was orphaned before turning five. As a child, he likely lived for a time with the Pamunkey Native American Tribe, before being sent by the Freedmen’s Bureau to be adopted by a white family in Boston in 1866. Unfortunately, his adoptive family was abusive. In 1871, at approximately 13 or 14 years old, Stanford escaped this situation by stowing away in a coal box on a train, ultimately reaching freedom in New York City. Throughout his life, he emerged as a significant post-Civil War activist against slavery, a writer, and a philanthropist across America, Canada, and England.

Having fled the traumas of his early years, Stanford dedicated three decades to preaching against slavery and racial violence. He became a prolific contributor to the post-bellum transatlantic press, publishing numerous opinion pieces, sermons, and essays. Among his works are two memoirs: The Plea of the Ex-Slaves Now in Canada (1885) and From Bondage to Liberty (1889), along with three editions of the textbook The Tragedy of the Negro in America (1897, 1897, 1903). Influenced by prominent Black activists such as Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, and Frederick Douglass, his writings contribute to the rich legacy of African American antislavery literature from the abolition era through to the Harlem Renaissance.