Looking Back: Birthday Celebrations for African Americans During the Civil War

By: Leah Jenkins, Assistant Researcher

Birthdays were a source of contention for both White and African Americans. Many enslaved individuals were denied knowledge of their actual birthdays and were only able to estimate the year and sometimes the month. Census records were no help either. From 1790 to 1810, enslaved individuals were listed by the total number owned by the master. From 1820-1840, enslaved individuals were listed by sex and age and beginning in the 1850s, the enslaved race or “color” was added.

Occasionally, slave owners kept detailed birth ledgers. Even Fredrick Douglass, a famous abolitionist, wasn’t aware of his birthdate. In his autobiography, The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass, he detailed how he “never met a slave who could tell of his birthday.” He continued to write, “The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege.” Birthdays were for free institutions, and by denying African Americans knowledge of their birthday, they were further jailed by white supremacy.

References:

• https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-story-behind-the-frederick-douglass-birthday-celebration

• https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2018/02/the-mystery-behind-frederick-douglasss-birthday/553571/

• https://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/genealogy-and-family-history/family-records/records-enslaved-people