James Forten, 1766-1842.

During Black History Month, we will highlight a local Black historical figure in our weekly Throwback Thursday posts.

In 1780, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill were solemn places to be due to the presence of the Revolutionary War.  The war had brought British controlled prison ships to the neighborhoods’ shores in Wallabout Bay, which is now surrounded by the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  More than 11,000 American patriots died on these ships, which had horrific living conditions.  Their memories are commemorated by the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Fort Greene Park.

One of the imprisoned, who was part of a small number of survivors, was James Forten.  Mr. Forten, a free Black man, was only 14 when the commercial ship he was on was captured by the British.   He and his crew were taken prisoner on the infamous Jersey prison ship.  Forten spent 7 months upon the ship, until he was released through a prisoner exchange.  He then walked, still a teenager, by himself, all the way to Philadelphia to find his family.  Later on, as an adult, he continued as an American Patriot by fighting for freedom and liberty for those enslaved as a vocal and leading abolitionist. 

Learn more about the extraordinary life of James Forten in A Gentleman of Color: the Life of James Forten by Julie Winch, 2003, Oxford Press.

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Wallabout Bay, as seen in this 1767 map, was home to the British Prison Ships during the American Revolutionary War.