4. Missing History
Researchers were incredibly fortunate that Martha lived in 1850. Any earlier year, and there would have been no official US government record of her existence. For the members of Saint Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church, she represented a bitter part of the past of many of their families. The 19th century was a time of great discrimination, even for those African Americans fortunate enough to be freed. It was a time marked by illiteracy, lack of educational opportunities, housing discrimination, and more. New York may have emancipated slaves, but it did not treat former slaves and free Blacks the same as the state’s white residents.