This is the sixth year I'm celebrating #BlackHistoryMonth by posting 28 days of strong, powerful, and amazing Black women. This year, I'm highlighting a woman from each decade starting with the 1750s and working our way up to the 2020s. I encourage you to do your own research on these women -- some of whom have been left out of the history we're taught -- as their legacy is worth far more than a couple of quick sentences. Dᴀʏ 5 𝟏𝟕𝟗𝟎𝐬: 𝐃𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 In the late 1700s, the formerly-enslaved Duchess Camino was known for her frosted plum cake, excellent bakes (she was affectionately called the “Pastry Queen of Rhode Island”), and her popular catering business that allowed her to purchase her own home and purchase freedom for her children. In 1792, she purchased a one-sixth share in the business of the Palls and Biers Society of the African Union making her the first Black woman invited to join a Black male organization in New England. Duchess was a well-respected, prosperous pillar in her Newport, RI, community.
These are the Black people who lived in the City by the Sea. They are the enslaved Africans taken from what’s now known as the Republic of Ghana, given new names that wiped out their identities, shipped to a new country and put to work in homes, farms, shops, and at the docks. They are laid to rest with fellow slaves instead of their families — even children, such as Pompey Lyndon, who died in slavery at 28 months and nine days old in 1765, and whose small headstone was carved by another enslaved man. They are the Africans who purchased their freedom from owners, bought their children from slavery, and established themselves in the community. Duchess Quamino was a slave who secured her own freedom through her culinary skills and made the plum cakes adored by George Washington. After Quamino’s death in 1804, William Ellery Channing, one of the foremost ministers in the Unitarian church, wrote her epitaph: “A free black of distinguished excellence: Intelligent, Industrious, Affectionate, Honest, and of Exemplary Piety.” 📲 Click the link in bio for the full story. 🎥: Caitlin Healey / The Boston Globe ✍️: Amanda Milkovits #rhodeisland #godslittleacre #africanamericans #newport #georgewashington #duchessquamino
Celebrate Black History Month by brushing up on your Rhode Island history with Charity “Duchess” Quamino — one of the most renowned chefs our state has ever seen. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ #BlackHistoryMonth #RIHistory #History_IG #RhodeIsland_IG #RhodeIsland #Newport #DuchessQuamino #GodsLittleAcre