top of page

William Howard Day

Online Database

This page is dedicated to everything-William Howard Day. It will be updated frequently. So, please, return to the page. Resources on this page will include, but not limited to:

  1. Primary documents from Day's era (newspapers, speeches, lithographs, and more.)
  2. Photos of book talks, lectures, and events related to W. H. Day (all images on this site are public domain or Todd Mealy has purchased the photos.)
  3. Images of Day landmarks
  4. Secondary source recommendations, books that compare to "Aliened American", a reading list
  5. Educational tools and lesson plans for how to implement W. H. Day into the classroom

WITF FM INTERVIEW - Feb18, 2015, with Smart Talk host Scott LaMar

Click here to listen

WITF FM INTERVIEW - Feb. 6, 2015, with Arts and Culture host Cary Burkett

OPINION/BOOK REVIEW: "Eric Foner's 'Gateway to Freedom' wonderfully uncovers everything about the Underground Railroad in New York except one of that city's greatest African American products--William Howard Day." by Todd Mealy, January 26, 2015

DOCUMENT: Wm. H. Day's 1887 interview with a FRANKLIN TIMES reporter, revealing his involvement printing John Brown's Constitution.

Decades after the October 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, William Howard Day speaks about his involvement with John Brown.

Click here to read Day's interview

DOCUMENT: Monument to the late Rev. Dr. Wm. Howard Day Dedicated, Harrisburg Telegraph

Click here to read the article

DOCUMENT: William H. Day, Esq. M.A., speaks November 29, 1859 at the Free South Leith Church with Rev. William King of the Elgin Refugee Slave Settlement.

Click here to see the poster

DOCUMENT: Wm. Howard Day speaks at the U.S.C.T. Grand Review in Harrisburg, November 17, 1865 in the Cleveland Daily Leader.

Click here to see the newspaper (search William Howard Day)

DOCUMENT: "The World Moves", April 23, 1867, Philadelphia Evening Telegraph.

Click here to read the document 

DOCUMENT: Wm. Howard Day gives the eulogy at the funeral of Underground Railroad operative Thomas Garrett in Wilmington, DE, Jan. 1, 1871

Click here to read the article

IMAGE: LUCIE ANN STANTON (DAY) SESSIONS

Click here to see the image

DOCUMENT: Controversy surrounding Day accepting a job for state auditor general, making him the first African American employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Bloomfield Times, January 21, 1873.

Click here to see the image

DOCUMENT: Day to speak at 15th Amendment Anniversary Celebration in Petroleum, Pennsylvania City Hall. Petroleum Centre Daily Record, July 11, 1873.

Click here to read the article

DOCUMENT: Harrisburg Telegraph. "State Equal Rights League" August 21, 1874. "...one of the founders of the League." (Found in the first column)

Click here to read the article

DOCUMENT: Brought to a close: A.M.E. Zion Church

Click here to read the article

DOCUMENT: Wm. Howard Day elected president of the Harrisburg School Board, making him the first African American school board president. June 11, 1892, Harrisburg Telegraph. Pictured included.

Click here to read the article

DOCUMENT: Jane Chester Obituary, Prof. W. Howard Day conducted the service. Harrisburg Telegraph, March 19, 1894, 1.

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: Lebanon Daily News. Wm. Howard Day Obituary, "Prominent Colored Man." December 4, 1900.

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: Reading Times. Wm Howard Day Obituary, "Noted Colored Man Dead." December 4, 1900.

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Wm. Howard Day Obituary: "Rev. Howard Day." Dec. 4, 1900

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: New York Times. Wm. Howard Day Obituary: "The Rev. Dr. William Howard Day." Dec. 4, 1900

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: New York Tribune. Wm. Howard Day Obituary: "The Rev. Dr. W. H. Day." Dec. 4, 1900, p. 9.

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: Philadelphia Times. Wm. Howard Day Obituary: "Great Colored Educator Dead." Dec. 4, 1900, 8.

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: Wilkes-Barre Record. Wm. H. Day Obituary: "Death of an Historic Character." Dec. 5, 1900, 5.

Click here to read the article


DOCUMENT: Harrisburg Daily Independent. W. H. Day's Funeral: "Dr. William Howard Day's Funeral." Dec. 8, 1900, 2. 

(Communicated by William H. Marshall, a former student)

Click here to read part 1         Click here to read part 2


DOCUMENT: Harrisburg Daily Independent. Public Resolution for Day. "Professor William Howard Day." Dec. 8, 1900, 2.

Click here to read the article 


DOCUMENT: Colored American, Wm. Howard Day's Obituary, December 8, 1900

Click here to read the article 


DOCUMENT: William Howard Day Obituary, December 15, 1900, Colored American

Click here to read the article 


DOCUMENT: "Industries From Park Zone Widely Scattered: The William Howard Day School" by J. Howard Wert, August 2, 1917, Harrisburg Telegraph

Click here to read the article 


DOCUMENT: W. Howard Day's marriage announcement to Georgie F. Bell, Sunbury American, June 7, 1873

Click here to read the article 

Speeches by William Howard Day

Todd's Lecture Handouts

"Professor William Howard Day and the effort to desegregate Pennsylvania's public schools in the post Civil War era" (To be turned into an article and published in Pennsylvania Heritage, June 2016)

Click here

"Commencing the Dream: Wm. H. Day & the Genesis Generation" (A lecture given at Widener University-Law's MLK Celebration, 2012)

"William Howard Day and the Political Complexities of the Underground Railroad"

bottom of page