William Cooper Nell was born on this day in Boston, Massachusetts. Recognized by Carter G. Woodson as the first African American historian, Nell devoted his life to documenting Black contributions to American history—especially in the Revolutionary War.

He worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison as a writer and editor for the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, earning the title of Garrison’s “right-hand man.”

His most celebrated work, “Colored Patriots of the American Revolution” (1855), was one of the earliest published histories highlighting the bravery and patriotism of African Americans in the founding of the United States.

Nell was also a staunch integrationist and civil rights activist. Notably, he became the first African American to hold a federal civilian post in the United States, appointed by the Treasury Department in 1861.