William Howard Day was a significant 19th-century Black civil rights figure who made his mark in Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania and beyond.
In 1856, he moved to modern-day Ontario, Canada, where he taught at settlements for people who escaped slavery in the U.S. Mealy writes that, on John Brown’s request, Day printed the constitution for the country Brown planned to form if his raid on Harpers Ferry had been successful. Historian Todd Mealy writes that William Howard Day "was one of the most influential, resilient and dynamic Black leaders who lived in the nineteenth century."Day was an active Republican for much of his life, campaigning for presidential and gubernatorial candidates. His work earned him a job as a clerk in newly elected state Auditor General Harrison Allen’s office in 1873. Years later, Day said he was the first Black state employee in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania officially integrated its schools in 1881, although that didn’t necessarily end segregation in practice.