Author Archives: LaShawnda Jones

Rev. Josiah Henson: Truth Stranger than Fiction

The original “Uncle Tom”, Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883) was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery in Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer’s school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, near Dresden in Kent County. Henson’s autobiography,ContinueContinue reading “Rev. Josiah Henson: Truth Stranger than Fiction”

Fyodor Fyodorovich Tomas “The Black Russian”

Frederick Bruce Thomas was born in 1872 to former slaves who became prosperous farmers in Mississippi. When his father was brutally murdered, the teenaged Frederick fled the Deep South and headed for New York City where he worked as a waiter and valet.

Deploying charm, charisma and cunning, he emigrated to Europe, criss-crossing the continent to find employment as a multilingual waiter in locations as diverse as London and Leipzig, Venice and Vienna, before settling in Moscow in 1899. {Click to read more.}

No Pensions for Ex-Slaves: How Federal Agencies Suppressed Movement To Aid Freedpeople

In the late 19th century, the idea of pursuing pensions for ex-slaves—similar to pensions for Union veterans—took hold. If disabled elderly veterans were compensated for their years of service during the Civil War, why shouldn’t former slaves who had served the country in the process of nation building be compensated for their years of forced, unpaid labor?

2014 Photo Challenge Submissions – Composition

It sounded like a great way for me to become more knowledgeable about the DSLR I had purchased in 2011 and only took out for travel or special occasions. I began participating in the Photo Challenges in Week 8 (2014). After I posted Week 8, I went back a week and posted the Week 7 challenge as well and I have posted a photo every week since.

I am sharing my final submitted photos by challenge category: Composition, Landscape, Nature & Wildlife, Still Life, and Special Effects & Techniques. Learn more about the challenge here: http://www.PhotoChallenge.org