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PROFILES IN COURAGE: AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN LOWELL
 
Although often ignored and unrecognized by
historians and the community, African-Americans have played an important role in the history of Lowell, Massachusetts.  This exhibit of the events and experiences of two African-American families, the Quork-Lewis Family and the Lew Family, is an attempt to understand and appreciate their courage and contributions.

The Quork-Lewis Family (1754-1954) 
Records of the Quork-Lewis Family experiences begin with the sale of three slaves, Mingo, Dinah and their son, Quaco or Quork, to James Caldwell of Barre, Massachusetts, in 1754.  At Caldwell's death in 1763, Quork and his family are left to Caldwell's widow, Isabell, who takes them with her  when she marries Nathaniel Jennison.  Jennison assumes sole ownership of these slaves at Isabell's death in 1774.  In 1781, after two promises of freedom are broken, Quork runs away from Nathaniel Jennison to the brothers of his former owner.  When caught by Jennison, Quork is beaten and locked in a shed for several hours.  These actions become the basis for a lawsuit in which the Massachusetts Courts apply the new 1780 State Constitution with its claim of the "rights of man."  After a series of suits, counter suits and appeals, Quork's case is upheld in 1783.  This case is now viewed as the landmark decision which effectively ended slavery in Massachusetts.

     Among the slaves owned by Nathaniel Jennison is Minor Walker.  In 1792, she marries Peter P. Lewis, also from Barre, and they move to Cambridge.  There they purchase a home and raise a family of nine sons and two daughters.  Their sons and daughters become leaders in the anti-slavery movement centered in Boston.  About 1830, John and Sophia Lewis Levy, Walker Lewis, Simpson H. Lewis, Andrews V. Lewis, Samuel A. Lewis, Enoch Lewis, and Peter P Lewis, Jr. move their families to Lowell.  The reasons are not clear: perhaps family ties, business expansion, anti-slavery activities or equal education for their children.

     John Levy, hairdresser, is an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and a paid organizer for the Annual National Anti-Slavery Bazaar held in Boston.  In 1843, Levy works with Maria Chapman and Sarah Clay to establish the Lowell Woman's Anti-Slavery Society and their anti-slavery fairs held in Old City Hall.  In 1844, Levy, along with William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglas, and others, helps organize a series of one hundred anti-slavery conventions throughout Massachusetts. 

     In 1825, Walker Lewis marries Elizabeth Lovejoy, described as a light skinned mulatto, and they have 

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