, OH
Established in 1879 by Chicago industrialist William P. Rend as a coal mining town, Rendville became a place where African Americans broke the color barrier. In 1888, Dr. Isaiah Tuppins, the first African American to receive a medical degree in Ohio, was elected Rendville’s mayor, also making him the first African American to be elected a mayor in Ohio. Richard L. Davis arrived in Rendville in 1882 and became active in the Knights of Labor. He was one of the labor organizers from the Little Cities of Black Diamonds region who helped found the United Mine Workers of America in 1890. An outstanding writer and orator, Davis was elected to UMWA’s national executive board and organized thousands of African Americans and immigrants to join the union. (continued on other side)
, OH
“I say white brother, because I believe that to be the proper phrase, inasmuch as I believe in the principle of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of all mankind no matter what the color of his skin may be.” Richard L. Davis championed the cause of racial equality throughout the eastern coalfields, calling for an end to the color line and for all miners to unite against wage slavery. He was born in Roanoke County, Virginia in 1862 and arrived in racially integrated Rendville in 1882, where he became an organizer for the Knights of Labor. In 1886, a year after the Great Hocking Valley Strike, Davis wrote his first letters to the editor of the National Labor Tribune, establishing himself as voice for miners in the labor movement. (Continued on other side)
, OH
James Seneca Tyler was born free in Columbus in 1837 and was an early settler of central Ohio. During his life he held several prominent positions. He served in the Fifth U.S. Colored Regiment in the Civil War and mustered out as Quarter-Master Sergeant having worked as a sutler’s clerk at Camp Chase. He was the first African American engrossing clerk chosen by the Ohio House of Representatives serving the 62nd and 66th General Assemblies. Between terms, he worked as Court Bailiff under Sheriff John U. Rickenbaker, and later was secretary to Chief of Police Edward Pagels. During Governor Joseph Foraker’s term, he served as night officer at the State Capitol building. He also served as Attache under Governor William McKinley. For many years he worked as a chef at Ambos Restaurant and Goodale House. He and his wife Maria lived at 1107 Highland Avenue where they raised 13 children.
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