After President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a black Methodist preacher in Norfolk named Richard H. Parker remarked that “the wind blows entirely different.”
The following year, on Independence Day, Parker exulted: “This is the greatest Fourth of July I ever knew. … Thank God for what my eyes see, and my ears hear!” Parker only wished his “voice was loud and long enough” to reach Richmond so that Confederate President Jefferson Davis would know “that to-day, we, the colored people, are celebrating the Fourth of July!”
Parker had reason for rejoicing. He had been born into bondage in York County sometime between 1803 and 1808, and as “a mere boy” was sold away from his mother and taken to Norfolk. Anxious to read, he learned his letters by bribing white children with marbles, and he purchased a primer with money he had saved from selling discarded nails.
Since it was illegal for slaves to learn how to read, he hid his book in his hat until it “wore the hair from the top of his head.” When his master’s daughter was discovered giving him secret lessons, she received “a severe reprimand,” while young Parker received “fifteen blows.” Nevertheless, he persevered.
In the bits of spare time that he could find, Parker hired himself out to earn money. Eventually he saved enough to purchase his own freedom, paying $3,000 to be free.
At some point during the Civil War, probably in the spring of 1864, Parker traveled to Washington, D.C., where he toured the Capitol, Treasury and Patent Office. Outside of the White House he sat down on a bench in Lafayette Square, stretched out his arms and legs, and said, “Ah, this, this is the air of freedom.”
Upon entering the building, Parker felt like the Queen of Sheba must have felt when she met King Solomon in ancient Israel. Inside Lincoln’s office, however, he was in for a surprise. Parker thought that Lincoln must be out, “as I didn’t see any one there that looked peart enough for the Chief Magistrate.” All he saw was “a plain, farmer-like looking man, tall and thin, and about as handsome in the face as I am.” The man stood “right up as soon as we entered, and when he knew who we were, made us a hearty welcome, and offered us seats.” Parker thought, “What an honor, to have our President offer me a cheer!” (This was a joke about Lincoln’s Midwestern accent.)
Parker and his fellow visitors introduced themselves and urged Lincoln to support black suffrage. According to Parker, Lincoln said, “Don’t be in a hurry, friends, you’ll get all your rights by and by, — you’ll get them just as soon as you are prepared for them, and know how to use them.” According to Parker, “I knew [as] soon as I heard that man speak, and saw his kind face, that he would be a good friend to my people; and I’ve never had cause to change my mind.”
Parker then returned to Norfolk “contented, with a full heart.” Parker would visit the White House again in April 1865, but this was, sadly, to pay his respects to the martyred president.
Richard Parker was one of hundreds of African Americans to meet Lincoln during the Civil War. Some of Lincoln’s visitors were famous, such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. But most were not well known, then or now.
But in boldly walking through the White House gates these visitors helped turn “the people’s house” into a site of tremendous racial uplift. And to the shock and surprise of many, Lincoln reciprocated, welcoming them with kindness and an outstretched hand.
Jonathan W. White is a professor of American studies at Christopher Newport University in Newport News and the author of “A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022). Follow him on Twitter at @CivilWarJon.
