Yesterday, the country recognized Juneteenth – a holiday honoring the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Though slavery wasn’t abolished in America until 1865, there was a small population of free African Americans living in Charleston in the antebellum years – and on the same day (June 19) in 1843, a group of free black men established an organization called the Humane Brotherhood.
In fact, in the late 1790s + into the early 1800s, the population of free blacks in Charleston actually rose greatly (going from 586 in 1790 to 3,785 by 1860). Meanwhile, though, the relationship between freedmen + white Charlestonians diminished – particularly following the attempted slave rebellion led by Denmark Vesey in 1822.
Though they were not enslaved, free African Americans in that time period were very restricted in their day-to-day lives. In 1822, South Carolina made it illegal for African Americans to leave + reenter the state. In 1835, blacks were banned from operating schools.
It was those societal limitations + strained relationships with whites in Charleston that spurred the establishment of the Humane Brotherhood (along with its predecessor, a group called the Brown Fellowship Society).
By the numbers:
- $3,162. The average real estate holding of Humane Brotherhood men in 1859.
- 20. The number of men who belonged to the Humane Brotherhood.
- 33.6. The mean age of Humane Brotherhood members.
The group established a support system among free black men that aided them in times of need, particularly concerning sickness and/or death. The benefits included:
- Financial aid provided if a member were to become disabled or imprisoned (not by fault of their own).
- Assistance with burial costs in the case of the death of a member’s child or spouse.
- Members who were out of work due to illness were given a weekly stipend – and every member of the organization was required to visit them.
- If a member passed away, each member would participate in a month-long period of mourning, + the member’s widow would be provided an annuity.
- If a member’s child were to become orphaned, the group was expected to support + educate him/her until they were ready to take up an apprenticeship under one of the members.
After the Civil War, there isn’t any known evidence that the group continued to exist in any capacity – but in 2008, a monument honoring the Humane Brotherhood (as well as the Brown Fellowship Society) was unveiled behind Addlestone Library (205 Calhoun Street). Historians believe both of the organizations at one time owned a number of burial plots in that area.
