With such abundant and rich knowledge of the enslaved life of Oliver C. Kelly (later Gilbert), his family, and the journey which led to his self-liberation in 1848, one may feel that his narrative is complete upon reaching freedom.
Wouldn’t that have been enough?
Wasn’t such more than the hopes and dreams of the most audacious enslaved person?
If one achieves liberty against all odds, surviving terrors and torturous circumstances usually resulting in capture, punishment, or even death, then one would certainly be entitled to live the rest of one’s life relishing in a pardonably proud reflection of those accomplishments.
Yet, here on this Labor Day in 2023, Oliver Gilbert’s legacy grants us access to the use he made of the life he carefully cultivated for himself and for us, his descendants.
In 1855, an African American named William J. Watkins, Jr (not to be confused with Oliver’s enslaver, whose name was Dr. William W. Watkins) was writing for Frederick Douglass’ newspaper, The North Star. Watkins and Oliver Gilbert were acquainted with each other from Baltimore and from abolitionist activities, inclusive of both having worked for William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, The Liberator.
Watkins Jr was the cousin of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, co-founder of American Women’s Suffrage Association (AWS) and an accomplished and well-published poet, having been raised by William J. Watkins, Sr, an African American abolitionist, minister and educator in Baltimore. Harper’s parents died before she reached age 3. Watkins Jr. and Harper were raised in the same household and were educated together at the Watkins Academy for Negro Youth.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
In 1853, Oliver paid William J. Watkins Jr, his fellow antislavery lecturer, to travel from Boston to Baltimore to in attempt to liberate Oliver’s older sister, Isabella. Though Watkins was successful in holding a private meeting with Isabella, she did not trust the plan and hesitated to leave Maryland with Watkins. Maryland had passed a law stating that free African Americans living in the North were no longer allowed to enter the state. If found, they would be imprisoned and sold into slavery. Frustrated with Isabella’s indecisiveness and concerned for his own safety, Watkins retreated to Boston without her.
It appears that Watkins and Gilbert may have had friction following this meeting with Isabella, and in 1855, Watkins used Douglass’ North Star as a platform to published criticism on Gilbert, claiming that Gilbert was collecting money under the auspices of antislavery activities, when actually pocketing his proceeds.
It isn’t clear what Watkins believed Gilbert should have done with the coins from the collections taken after his traveling lecturers and performance. Watkins was well-educated and fairly well-heeled, having never been enslaved and moving in circles of relative privilege, while Oliver Gilbert was just 5 years out of bondage in 1853, and still in the care of the Underground Railroad network, while attempting to free his siblings from slavery. Evidence that Oliver Gilbert was paying the antislavery societies has been researched and documented. Perhaps Watkins and Gilbert found themselves as competitors on the popular lecture circuit, and we know that while William Watkins was hailed as a successful lecturer, he struggled with his political endeavors, failing to achieve the stature he may have desired.
In 1852, Watkins, along with Robert Morris, presented themselves to the Massachusetts Legislature to see a “charter to form an African American militia company in Boston.” William Cooper Nell wrote about the petition, stating that “Success will be certain, and this achieved, all other rights will be added thereto.” However, the Massachusetts Legislature was less impressed and failed to act on the petition.
On February 24, 1853, Watkins delivered his eloquent “Our Rights as Men” speech before a Boston legislative committee requesting to form an independent militia of Black citizens (Link to speech).
Following the Civil War, as Oliver Gilbert continued to build his lecture reputation and his musical abilities, which he wove into his public appearances, he also leveraged his natural talent as an orator to position himself in increasingly consequential political arenas. A newly liberated labor force had emerged, rich with natural talent and unmatched knowledge, but completely devoid of rights. As the freedmen began to organize themselves around opportunities to earn sustaining income, labor unions were formed, and Oliver Gilbert, now newly literate, positioned himself at the center.
African Americans were excluded from many existing labor unions, such as when white workers formed the National Labor Union (NLU) with William Sylvis, President – founded in 1866. In 1869 several black delegates were invited to the annual meeting of the NLU, among them Isaac Myers, a prominent organizer of African American laborers. At the convention, he spoke eloquently for solidarity, saying that white and black workers ought to organize together for higher wages and a comfortable standard of living. However, the white unions refused to allow African Americans to join their ranks. In response to this, Myers met with other African American laborers to form a national labor organization of their own, in 1869 the National Labor Union, often referred to as the Colored National Labor Union, was formed with Myers as its first president.
During the first convention of the CNLU in December 1869, 214 delegates met and wrote a petition to Congress. This petition asked for Congress to split public land within the South into farmland to be used by low-income African American farmers. It also requested that black farmers be given a low-interest loan from the government. Another petition was drafted and sent to Congress in 1871, requesting the commission of an investigation into “Conditions of Affairs in the Southern States.” Neither of these petitions made much, if any, impact on Congress or the treatment of black workers in the South.
The Colored National Labor Union also established the Bureau of Labor, based in Washington, D.C. The Bureau of Labor was designed to assist workers of colors in organizing throughout the country. As President of the CNLU, Isaac Meyers traveled throughout the country, encouraging the organization of black workers and attempting to convince white labor unions to allow workers of color within in their organizations.
It was not until after World War II in the 1940s that the U.S. government encouraged the development of the Fair Employment Practices Commission.
In 1870, Oliver Gilbert was a married 38-year-old father of three, and living in Saratoga Springs, NY where he operated a comfortable rooming home (advertised as The Gilbert House and where Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison had both lodged on separate occasions) and an ‘ice cream saloon’.
A celebrated musician, music teacher and lecturer, Oliver began to sow the seeds of a public life to include Labor Unions and Politics.
Call for the Convention of colored labor for the State of New York. Oliver Gilbert represents Saratoga.
The New York State labor Convention is assembled. Oliver C. Gilbert is appointed Secretary.
Women are admitted as members to the NY State Colored Labor Union. Oliver Gilbert is Secretary.
The NY State Labor Union is formalized, and Oliver Gilbert is named to the Executive Committee.
