MARTIN DELANY - Army
Officer and Social Reformer - 1812-1885
From childhood Martin
Delany was taught that through his pure African veins ran
the royal blood of Golah and Mandingo princes. True to his heritage, Delany became a
leading abolitionist orator and journalist, a medical doctor and the first black to earn
the rank of major in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Born in Charles Town, West
Virginia, he trained as a physician at Harvard University, but spent most of his time
fighting against slavery. Delany also was co-editor with Fredrick Douglas of the North
Star, an abolitionist newspaper.
