Today In Black History... Paul Cuffe

On this date in 1817 Paul Cuffe, merchant, shipbuilder, and Black nationalist, died in Westport, MA. Born as a freed black in 1759 during the French and Indian War on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts, Cuffe helped American Blacks settle in Sierra Leone in a "return to Africa" attempt. Cuffe's father was of the Ashanti tribes in Africa and mother was a Wampanoag, Native American. He also built the first school of Westport, Massachusetts, which was racially integrated.