Black History Knowledge — September 17

What happened on this day. These are the September 17 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1787 — The Constitution is signed with slavery embedded in it

On September 17, 1787, delegates in Philadelphia signed the United States Constitution, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for white political power, protected the slave trade for twenty years, and promised the return of freedom seekers. Black Americans would spend the next two centuries forcing the document to honor its own promises.

1849 — Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery

On September 17, 1849, Harriet Tubman fled enslavement on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, following the North Star to Philadelphia and freedom. She returned south again and again to lead family and others out of bondage, becoming the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad.

1862 — Antietam’s outcome opens the door to emancipation

On September 17, 1862, Union forces stopped the Confederate invasion at Antietam on the bloodiest single day in American military history. The victory gave President Lincoln the standing he had waited for, and five days later he issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

1983 — Vanessa Williams becomes the first Black Miss America

On September 17, 1983, Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America, the first Black woman to win the title in the pageant’s sixty-two-year history. Her victory, and the racist backlash that followed, marked how much had changed and how much had not.

Wear the history: Harriet Tubman — from the Black Knowledge Wear collection.