Martin Robison Delany
(1812-1885)

The Father of Pan-Africanism

Martin Robison Delany was a grandson of Mandingo paternal and maternal grandparents, physician, author, statesmen, the first Black to achieve the rank of Major in the U.S. Army, and publisher of The Mystery newspaper. Subsequently, he co-edited the now more famous anti-slavery newspaper The North Star with his friend famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Douglass said of Delany, “I thank God for making me a man, simply, but Delany always thanks Him for making him a Black man.” Delany and his wife Catherine A. Richards had eleven children. 

The Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership provided this panel to educate people in the Gambia and the United States about each other. Original pencil drawing by William Hasenbuhler.