Hot Off the Press! or, the National Archives Records of the Freedmen’s Bureau

Scholar-in-residence John Hannigan just discovered a letter confirming that Caesar Robbins’ granddaughter Ellen Garrison purposely challenged the very first Civil Rights Act of 1866, enacted in April. In early May 1866, Ellen Garrison Jackson waited for her train in the ladies waiting room of the Baltimore train station and was “forcibly ejected.” Ellen went to the Freedman’s Bureau for support, which resulted in an arrest of the train depot officer and a court case – Ellen raised a legal suit against the train depot officer.

Ellen wrote to the Maryland Freedman’s Bureau commissioner:

I feel as though I ought to strive to maintain my rights. As long as our friends have passed a law for our protection we ought to contend for our rights and let our friends see that we appreciate their efforts in our behalf.
I remain yours most respectfully,
Mrs. E. Garrison Jackson

To learn more about Ellen Garrison Jackson and how her life in Concord began her remarkable civil rights activism, visit the new Ellen exhibit, which will go up in The Robbins House at the end of June.