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Historical Research Library

Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era. 

Singers and dancers focused on Chris Jackson playing George Washington

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John Adams, by John Trumbull, 1793 (National Portrait Gallery)

John Adams

A leading proponent of independence, a congressman, a diplomat, and the second President of the United States
Person
Detail of Richard Allen, "From the plantation to the Senate," lithograph by Gaylord Watson, 1883 (Library of Congress)

Richard Allen

Prominent Philadelphia advocate for abolition and civil rights and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
Person
Paul Cuffee, painting attributed to Chester Harding

Paul Cuffe

Black and Wampanoag businessman and shipbuilder who advocated for abolition, civil rights, and African colonization
Person
Benjamin Franklin, ca. 1789 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Benjamin Franklin

A polymath and statesman who was a leading figure in science, literature, diplomacy, and governance
Person
Portrait of Prince Hall from the Grand Logde of British Culumbia and Yuko, (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Prince Hall

Founder of the first African American Masonic lodge, in Boston, and advocate for abolition and civil rights
Person
Lemuel Haynes (Library of Congress)

Lemuel Haynes

African American clergyman and Revolutionary War veteran known for his writings on racial equality
Person
Silhouette of unidentified woman or girl, by Charles Willson Peale (Library of Congress)

Sally Hemings

Enslaved woman in the household of Thomas Jefferson, who was likely the father of her six children
Person