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Proclamation honoring in memoriam Lott Cary, an African-American Baptist minister and lay physician, who was instrumental in the founding of the Colony of Liberia in the 1820s in Africa.
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WHEREAS, it is the duty of Allegheny County Council to recognize and honor outstanding individuals in both the County and across the nation for their extraordinary achievements. In the month of February, Black History Month, we especially recognize members of the African-American community for their historic accomplishments; and
WHEREAS, Lott Cary was an African American Baptist minister and physician who escaped slavery and helped create the colony of Liberia. Born into slavery in 1780, Lott worked hard to educate himself and became a supervisor in a warehouse. With the money he earned at this job, he was able to buy freedom for himself and his family in 1813; and
WHEREAS, the same year, Lott became an official Baptist minister in Richmond, Virginia. Two years later, he helped form the African Missionary Society. In 1816, when the American Colonization Society was created, Lott became interested in the effort to emigrate former slaves to Africa; and
WHEREAS, in 1821, Lott moved himself and his family to the colony of Liberia. There, he became the first African American missionary in Africa. He created the Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia, Liberia, which remains in operation to this day, and helped the colony face the many issues they came across in their early years; and
WHEREAS, shortly after becoming the acting governor of Liberia, Lott Cary was fatally wounded and died. Lott’s legacy has carried on, however, and he remains a symbol of freedom. He is remembered through the work of the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention in Washington D.C.;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Allegheny County Council, does hereby recognize the fearless achievements of Lott Cary and encourages all residents to remember the African American men and women who ove...
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