Black Facts: Unlocked

Some of Erie’s most important Black stories were never given the spotlight they deserved. That’s why facts like this matter. Our latest Erie Facts You Should Know shines a light on how much Black history in Erie went under-documented for generations, and why reclaiming those stories is so important right now. This isn’t just about the past, it’s about making sure the culture, the struggle, and the legacy are finally seen, heard, and remembered.

One of the better-known residents of Erie in the nineteenth century was Albert Vosburgh, a prominent barber, businessman, and savvy real estate investor. Samuel P. Bates, in his 1884 book History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, described Vosburgh as an unmarried man of "ample means" who was a "zealous" political advocate, uninterested in running for office but deeply interested in expanding civil rights across Pennsylvania. He owned and lived in his family's mansion at 314 French St. with his daughter and his sister's family, and also owned six other houses and ten lots of land across the city.

Jacqueline Yvonne Ratcliff Brown (1950–2022) was a trailblazing Erie, PA native and the first African American and first female Deputy Chief of Detectives for the Erie Bureau of Police. Serving for 31 years (1974–2005), she broke significant racial and gender barriers, retiring as the highest-ranking African American and female officer in the department's history. Key Historical Highlights:Early Life & Education: Born in Erie to Bishop Tony and Pastor Aseline Ratcliff, she graduated from Strong Vincent High School and earned a psychology degree from Edinboro University.Police Career: Joined the force in 1974 during a time when it was unwelcoming to women and minorities. She spent over a decade in the patrol division before becoming a detective.Historic Promotion: In 2001, she was promoted to Deputy Chief of Detectives, becoming the first Black officer to hold that position in city history.Legacy: Known as a "tough-but-fair" investigator who broke down barriers, she retired in 2005, according to GoErie.com.Community Impact: She was active in her faith community and established the Bishop T.R. Ratcliff College Fund in honor of her father. GoErie.com +3She passed away on September 25, 2022, and is remembered as a pioneering figure in Erie's civic history. 

The Colfax massacre occurred on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana, when a white mob—including former Confederate soldiers and KKK members—murdered an estimated 62–153 black men, many of whom were surrendering. The violent attack followed a disputed Louisiana governor election and aimed to suppress Republican political power. Wikipedia +1Key Facts About the Colfax Massacre:Location: Colfax, Louisiana (Grant Parish).Date: April 13, 1873 (Easter Sunday).Background: Tensions over a disputed November 1872 election for local and state offices led armed white Democrats to try to take back control of the Grant Parish courthouse from Republican officeholders (largely Black citizens).Casualties: While only three white men were killed, an estimated 62 to 153 Black men were murdered, with many killed after they had surrendered.Legal Impact: The massacre led to the case United States v. Cruikshank (1875), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Enforcement Act of 1870 applied only to state actions, not to private individuals, significantly weakening federal protection of civil rights.Historical Significance: It is often described by historians as one of the deadliest instances of racial violence during Reconstruction.

Approximately 12% to 25% of Oliver Hazard Perry’s crew during the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie were Black sailors, playing a critical role in the victory. Despite initially expressing reservations, Perry praised their fearlessness under fire. Notable Black crew members included Cyrus Tiffany, who protected Perry during his transfer to the USS Niagara. Key details regarding Black crew members in Perry's fleet:Significance: Their participation was critical to winning control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812.Known Individuals: Cyrus Tiffany is the most recognized, serving as a master's mate who accompanied Perry in the battle. Other identified individuals include Charles Smothers, who fought on the Niagara.Conditions: While many Black sailors were assigned to roles as cooks or stewards, they were fully integrated into combat roles, including gun crews.Background: These were largely free men of color who, despite facing segregation in other sectors, were vital to the naval effort.Legacy: Many of these sailors later worked in Great Lakes merchant shipping and participated in the Underground Railroad. 

Black Seminole Indians. Black Seminole Indians, sometimes known as American Indian Blacks, Black Muscogulges, or Seminole freedmen, emerged as a distinct ethnic group in seventeenth-century Florida. During the early part of that century, the Spanish crown, which controlled Florida, granted land to a group of Lower Creeks, hoping to form a buffer zone between them and English settlers in Georgia and the Carolinas. Over time, the Creeks were joined by other bands such as the Mikasukis and the Apalachicolas. By 1822, this confederation had adopted the name Seminole and numbered close to 5,000 members. Throughout the history of Spanish Florida, the crown had also offered asylum to runaway slaves, i.e., maroons, from the English colonies. Entire free Black communities existed under Spanish rule in Florida and other parts of the empire. When the Spanish surrendered Florida to Britain in 1763, the policy of legal manumission ended, but the area's reputation as a sanctuary persisted. Runaways turned to the Seminoles for protection and asylum from slave hunters. During and after the American Revolution, the Seminoles added to the number of maroons through capture and purchase. Although considered slaves by the Seminoles, Blacks found life a great deal more tolerable under their new masters, who adopted many of the practices of the lenient Spanish slave system. Seminoles in Florida often refused to sell their slaves or to turn them over to slavehunters or other Indians without being coerced.

Atty. Larry Meredith, a beloved community leader, advocate, and the first Black Erie City Councilman and first Black Erie City Council President.Atty. Meredith served as the Deputy Director of the John F. Kennedy Center, the Personnel Director for the County of Erie, the Solicitor for the City of Erie, the Director of Intercultural Relations for Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, which is now PennWest Edinboro, and the Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center Board of Directors.Larry served the City of Erie with distinction for over 50 years as a lawyer, city councilman, and advocate for social justice.

Black women at NASA, known as "human computers," were pivotal to the success of early U.S. spaceflight, overcoming racial and gender barriers to calculate trajectories for Alan Shepard’s 1961 flight, John Glenn’s orbit, and the Apollo 11 moon mission. Leaders like Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson pioneered aerospace mathematics, engineering, and computing, fundamentally shaping modern space exploration.

An Erie Black History moment in 1966 with the late Rev. Paul P. Martin, a trailblazer for Social Justice, an Entrepreneur in his time, President of the Erie Branch NAACP, served as board chair of the Erie Human Relations Commission, and was a former Pastor of ST. James A.M.E. and last but not least, the Founder of the Erie Opportunities Industrialization Center (O.I.C), a personal friend and colleague of the late Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, the Founder of the first O.I.C. of America.

Mary Ellen Pleasant was an American entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate, and abolitionist. She was arguably the first self-made millionaire of African-American heritage, decades before Madam C. J. Walker. She identified herself as "a capitalist by profession" in the 1890 United States census. Her aim was to earn as much money as she could and help as many people as she could. With her riches, she was able to provide transportation, housing, and food for survival. She trained people how to stay safe, succeed, carry themselves, and more. The "one woman social agency" served African Americans before and during the Civil War, and also met a different set of needs after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

Bill Cole former Chair of Erie County Democratic Party. Bill was the first African American to Chair any of Pennsylvania’s 67 Counties.

Daughter of Earl Lawrence and granddaughter of Emma Gertrude Lawrence, Ada Louise Lawrence was hired in 1946 as the first full-time African American teacher in Erie public schools. Having graduated from historically black Cheney State Teachers College and with previous teaching experience in a segregated district in Maryland, her Erie appointment at McKinley Elementary School represented a breakthrough for the city’s growing African American population. An Erie newspaper heralded Ada Lawrence as “a credit to her race,” and expressed the “hope that her teaching career [would] be a long and successful one.” Indeed it was, as Ada Lawrence taught 36 years in the district before her retirement in 1982. Ada Lawrence became custodian of her rich family legacy, and in the 1970s mentored young teachers like Johnny Johnson and Celestine Davis, instilling in them a passion for African American history that continues to this day.