Octavius Catto

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Octavius V. Catto
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Date of birth:	February 22, 1839(1839-02-22)
Place of birth:	Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Date of death:	October 10, 1871 (aged 32)
Place of death:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Movement:	African-American Civil Rights Movement

Octavius Valentine Catto (22 February 1839–10 October 1871) was an African American educator, intellectual, civil rights activist, and cricket and baseball player in 19th-century Philadelphia.

Contents 1 Educator and intellectual 2 Activist for equal rights 3 Sportsman 4 Death 5 O. V. Catto Memorial 6 Notes and references 6.1 Notes 6.2 References 7 External links

[edit] Educator and intellectual

Catto was born in Charleston, South Carolina (Silcox 1977: 53). His father, William T. Catto, had been a slave millwright in that state, was eventually freed and then ordained as a Presbyterian minister before taking his family north, first to Baltimore, then to Philadelphia (Delany 1852: 108, 125; Douglass 1848).^[1] Catto's mother was Sarah Isabella Cain, a member of Charleston's prominent free mixed-race DeReef family (Silcox 1977: 53–54).

In Philadelphia, Catto began his education at Vaux Primary School and then Lombard Grammar School, both segregated institutions. In 1853, he entered the all-white Allentown Academy in Allentown, New Jersey, and then, in 1854, when his family returned to Philadelphia, he became a student at that city's Institute for Colored Youth, hereafter ICY (Silcox 1977: 55).^[2]

While a student at the ICY, Catto presented papers and took part in scholarly discussions at "a young men's instruction society" which, under the leadership of fellow ICY student Jacob C. White, Jr., met weekly at the ICY and eventually became the Banneker Institute (Silcox 1977: 56; Lapsansky 1993: 83). Catto graduated from the ICY in 1858, winning praise from principal Ebenezer Bassett for "outstanding scholarly work, great energy, and perseverance in school matters" (cited in Silcox 1977: 57). Catto then undertook a year of post-graduate work, including private tutoring in both Greek and Latin, in Washington, D. C. In 1859, he returned to Philadelphia, where he was elected full member and recording secretary of the Banneker Institute, and also gained appointment as professor of English and mathematics at the ICY (Silcox 1977: 57; Lapsansky 1993: 91; Griffin n. d.: 43).

Catto remained at the ICY until his death in 1871. On May 10, 1864, he delivered the ICY's commencement address, which gave a "synoptical history" of the school (Catto 1864: 12–18). In addition, Catto's address touched on the issue of the potential insensitivity of white teachers toward the needs and interests of African American students:

It is at least unjust to allow a blind and ignorant prejudice to so far disregard the choice of parents and the will of the colored tax-payers, as to appoint over colored children white teachers, whose intelligence and success, measured by the fruits of their labors, could neither obtain nor secure for them positions which we know would be more congenial to their tastes (Catto 1864: 15).

Furthermore, Catto spoke of the war then in progress, of the need for major changes in the staus quo, and of the role education would play in this change:

How much of the course of this terrible revolution remains yet to be run, or how many political evolutions our Government may yet be forced to make, no man can foresee. But it must be the most superficial view, indeed, which concludes that any other condition than a total change in the status which the colored man has hitherto had in this country, must of necessity grow out of the conflicting theories of the parties to whose hands this question is at present committed. There must come a change, one now in process of completion, which shall force upon this nation, not so much for the good of the black man, as for its own political and industrial welfare, that course which Providence seems wisely to be directing for the mutual benefit of both peoples.

Those millions of human beings now scattered through the Southern country must eventually come forth into the sunlight of Freedom; and what a field will there then be opened for the benevolence of the wealthy, and the labors of the educated colored man! [...]

[...] It is for the purpose of promoting, as far as possible, the preparation of the colored man for the assumption of these new relations with intelligence and with the knowledge which promises success, that the Institute feels called upon at this time to act with more energy and on a broader scale than has heretofore been required (Catto 1864: 19–20).

On January 2, 1865, at a gathering in National Hall, Philadelphia, celebrating the second anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Catto "delivered a very able address, and one that was a credit to the mind and heart of the speaker" (Christian Recorder, January 7, 1865).

In 1869, Bassett left the ICY to become ambassador to Haiti, and Catto lobbied to replace him as principal. The ICY board, however, chose Catto's fellow teacher, Fanny Jackson Coppin, as head of school, while electing Catto as principal of the ICY's male department (Silcox 1977: 68–69). Not long after, in 1870, Catto joined the Franklin Institute, which institution supported his membership even in the face of white opposition (Silcox 1977: 72).

[edit] Activist for equal rights

The turmoil of the Civil War sharpened Catto's equal rights and anti-slavery activism. On the military front, he joined with Frederick Douglass and other prominent black leaders to form a Recruitment Committee to convince young black men to fight for their emancipation. After the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania in 1863, Catto helped raise a company of black volunteers for the defense of the state; their help, however, was refused by the staff of Darius N. Couch on the grounds that the men were not authorized to fight. Couch was later corrected by Edwin M. Stanton, but not until the aspiring soldiers had returned to Philadelphia. Eventually, acting with Douglass and the Union League, Catto helped raise eleven regiments of "Colored Troops" in the Philadelphia area. These men were sent to the front and many saw action. Catto himself was commissioned a major but did not fight (Silcox 1977: 59–61).

On Friday, April 21, 1865, at the State House in Philadelphia, Catto presented the regimental flag to Lieutenant-Colonel Trippe, commander of the 24th United States Colored Troops. An account of Catto's presentation speech was reported the following day in the Christian Recorder:

We have not space to give Mr. Catto full justice, and can only note a few of the points of his eloquent and able effort. He thought that the spot, and the incidents connected with it, and the occasion, were calculated to inspire us all with the spirit of liberty. We are apt to remember that the guilty phantasy of our inferiority accepted by the proud Saxons of to-day, has been the basis upon which was founded the partial freedom which we were so long forced to endure.

The speaker then paid a tribute to the two hundred thousand blacks, who, in spite of obloquy and the old bane of prejudice, have been nobly fighting our battles, trusting to a redeemed country for the full recognition of their manhoods in the future. He thought that in the plan of reconstruction the votes of the blacks could not be lightly dispensed with. They were the only unqualified friends of the Union in the South. In the impressive language written on this flag, "Let Soldiers in War be Citizens in Peace." The Banks policy may plant the seed of another revolution. Our statesmen will have to take care lest they prove neither so good nor wise under the seductions of mild-eyed peace, as heretofore, amidst the tumults of grim-visaged war. Merit should also be recognised in the black soldier, and the way opened to his promotion. De Tocqueville prophesied that if ever America underwent Revolution, it would be brought about by the presence of the black race, and that it would result from the inequality of their condition. This has been verified. But there is another side to the picture; and while he thought it his duty to keep these things before the public, there are motives of interest founded on our faith in the nation's honor, to act in this strife. Freedom has rapidly advanced since the firing on Sumter; and since the Genius of Liberty has directed the war, we have gone from victory to victory. Soldiers! accept this flag on behalf of the citizens of Philadelphia. I know too well the mettle of your pasture, that you will not dishonor it. Keep before your eyes the noble deeds of your fellows at Port Hudson, Fort Wagner, and on other historic fields. Desert them not. Accept, Colonel, this flag on behalf of the regiment, and may God bless you and them (Christian Recorder, April 22, 1865).

On the civilian front, Catto was elected corresponding secretary of the Pennsylvania Equal Rights League in November 1864 (Silcox 1977: 62). In addition, he served as vice president at the State Convention of Colored People held in Harrisburg, February 1865 (Liberator March 3, 1865: 35). Furthermore, immediately after the war, Catto fought for the desegregation of Philadelphia's mass transit system. The Thursday, May 18, 1865 issue of the New York Times ran a story illustrative of the civil disobedience tactics employed:

Philadelphia, Wednesday, May 17—2 P. M.
Last evening a colored man got into a Pine-street passenger car, and refused all entreaties to leave the car, where his presence appeared to be not desired.

The conductor of the car, fearful of being fined for ejecting him, as was done by the Judges of one of our courts in a similar case, ran the car off the track, detached the horses, and left the colored man to occupy the car all by himself.

The colored man still firmly maintains his position in the car, having spent the whole of the night there.

The conductor looks upon the part he enacted in the affair as a splendid piece of strategy.

The matter creates quite a sensation in the neighborhood where the car is standing, and crowds of sympathizers flock around the colored man (New York Times, May 18, 1865, p. 5).

A meeting of the Union League of Philadelphia was held in Sansom Street Hall on Thursday, June 21, 1866, to protest and denounce the forcible ejection of several black women from Philadelphia's street cars. At this meeting, Catto presented the following resolutions:

Resolved, That we earnestly and unitedly protest against the proscription which excludes us from the city cars, as an outrage against the enlightened civilization of the age.

Resolved, That we cannot discover any reason based upon good sense or common justice for the continuance of a practice which has long ceased to disgrace democratic New York, Washington, St. Louis, Harrisburg, and other cities, whose pledges of fidelity to the principles of freedom and civil liberty have not been so frequent as have been those of our own city.

Resolved, That, with feelings of sorrow rather than pride, we remind our white fellow-citizens of the glaring inconsistency and palpable injustice of forcing delicate women and innocent children, by the ruthless hands of ungentlemanly and unprincipled conductors and drivers, to places on the front platform, subjecting to storm and rain, cold and heat, relatives of twelve thousand colored soldiers, whose services these very citizens gladly accepted when the nation was in her hour of trouble, and they seriously entreated, under the chances of IMPARTIAL DRAFTS, to fill the depleted ranks of the Union army.

Resolved, That while men and women of a Christian community can sit unmoved and in silence, and see women barbarously thrown from the cars, — and while our courts of justice fail to grant us redress for acts committed in violation of the chartered privileges of these railroad companies, — we shall never rest at ease, but will agitate and work, by our means and by our influence, in court and out of court, asking aid of the press, calling upon Christians to vindicate their Christianity, and the members of the law to assert the principles of the profession by granting us justice and right, until these invidious and unjust usages shall have ceased.

Resolved, That we do solemnly pledge ourselves to assist by our means any suit brought against the perpetrators of outrages such as those, the occurrence of which has convened this meeting; and we respectfully call upon our liberal-minded and friendly white fellow-citizens to cease to remain silent witnesses of the grievance of which we complain, and to demonstrate the sincerity of their professions by an interference in our behalf (Brown 1866).

Later enlisting the help of Thaddeus Stevens and William D. Kelley, Catto's fight became instrumental in the passing of a bill banning transit segregation in Pennsylvania. A fine levied against a conductor who refused to admit Catto's fiancee helped establish the new law in practice (Silcox 1977: 65–66).

Catto's crusade for equal rights was capped in October of 1870 when Pennsylvania voted to pass the 15th Amendment guaranteeing voting rights for black men.

[edit] Sportsman

Catto was active not just in the public arenas of education and equal rights, but also on the sporting field. Like many other young men of Philadelphia, both white and black, Catto began playing English cricket while in school (Silcox 1977: 66). As this latter game evolved into American baseball towards the end of the Civil War, Catto too became active on the diamond. He helped establish Philadelphia as a major hub of black baseball and, along with Jacob C. White, Jr., ran the Pythian Baseball Club (Silcox 1977: 66–67). The Pythians had an undefeated season in 1867 (Silcox 1977: 67). In 1868, Catto, with support by players from the all-white Philadelphia Athletics, lobbied to get the Pythians admitted into the newly formed Pennsylvania Convention of Baseball Clubs. The PCBC refused, however, to admit black players and black teams (Silcox 1977: 67–68). The following season, the Pythians challenged various white baseball teams of Philadelphia, but all refused to play. Eventually, on September 4, 1869, the Olympic Baseball Club of New York accepted the challenge and came to Philadelphia. This first ever official game between a black and a white baseball club ended in the Pythians' defeat, 44 to 23 (New York Times, September 5, 1869).

[edit] Death

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (December 2007)

In the fall of 1871, Catto was in Philadelphia teaching. On election day, October 10, fights broke out among black and white voters. Black voters, who were largely Republican, faced intimidation and violence from white voters, partisans of the city's Democratic machine. City police, called on to quell the violence, in many cases exacerbated it, using their power to prevent black citizens from voting. A Lieutenant Haggerty was later placed under arrest for having encouraged police under his command to prevent African Americans from voting (Silcox 1977: 72–73).

On his way to vote, Catto was intermittently harassed by whites. Police reports indicate that he purchased a revolver for protection. At the intersection of Ninth Street and South Street, he was accosted by a white man, Frank Kelly, who shot him three times. The inquest was not able to determine if Catto had pulled his own gun. Kelly was not convicted of the crime (Silcox 1977: 73).

Catto's military funeral at Eden Cemetery, in Collingdale, Pennsylvania was well attended. His death, coupled with the resurgence of the anti-Reconstructionist Democratic party, marked the beginning of a decline in black militancy in 19th-century Philadelphia (Silcox 1977: 74–75).

[edit] O. V. Catto Memorial

On June 17, 1878, R. W. Wallace wrote to the Christian Recorder,

Can you inform me through your paper, why there is no care taken of Prof. O. V. Catto’s grave? I have recently been down to the Cemetery and was surprised to see its condition. Thousands of people have asked me about the same thing, and, when I am compelled to say there is no sign of any stone to his grave, while both white and colored stand ready to help in the matter, it is not creditable to us. Something ought to be done in the matter. I believe almost everybody would give something toward getting a stone. I am the publisher of his life, and am prepared to speak in regard to the interest taken by all classes of people (Wallace 1878).

Some twenty years later, the New York Times reported that

Many negro citizens of Philadelphia are now endeavoring to have carried into speedy execution a long-cherished wish to have erected there a monument to Prof. Octavius V. Catto, one of their race, who was killed in an election day riot in that city twenty-six years ago. He was long an instructor in the Institute for Colored Youth, and the plan is to erect a mausoleum, and that the work be done by the pupils of the school as far as possible (New York Times, November 12, 1897, p. 6).

More than a century later, this "long-cherished wish" is at last coming to fruition. On June 14, 2006, the Board of Trustees of the O. V. Catto Memorial Fund announced the kickoff of a $1.5 million fundraising campaign to erect a memorial statue to Catto. The Abraham Lincoln Foundation made the first contribution, which was $25,000. The O. V. Catto Memorial will be located on the apron of Philadelphia City Hall. It will be the first public sculpture to honor an African American in Philadelphia.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Catto, O. V. (1864). Our Alma Mater, An Address Delivered at Concert Hall on the Occasion of the Twelfth Annual Commencement of the Institute for Colored Youth, May 10, 1864. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, Printers. [1]
• Delany, M. R. (1852). The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States. Self-published. 
• Griffin, H. H. (n. d.). The Trial of Frank Kelly, for the Assassination and Murder of Octavius V. Catto, On October 10, 1871. Philadelphia: Daily Tribune Publishing Co. [2]
• Lane, R. (1991). William Dorsey's Philadelphia and Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black City in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Lapsansky, E. J. (1993). "Discipline to the Mind": Philadelphia's Banneker Institute, 1854–1872. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 117, nos. 1/2, pp. 83–102. [3]
• Newspapers
  • Christian Recorder
    • Anniversary of the Banneker Institute, Christian Recorder, Saturday, January 7, 1865.
    • Presentation of Colors to the 24th Regt., U. S. C. T., Christian Recorder, April 22, 1865.
    • Brown, J. W. (1866). Home Affairs: The Cars and Our People, Christian Recorder, June 30, 1868.
    • Wallace, R. W. (1878). Prof. O. V. Catto’s Grave, Christian Recorder, June 20, 1878.
  • The Liberator
    • Convention of Colored People, Liberator, vol. 35, no. 9, Friday, March 3, 1865, p. 35.
  • The New York Times
    • The Rights of Colored Citizens: Curious Affair in Philadelphia, New York Times, May 18, 1865, p. 5.
    • Base Ball, New York Times, September 5, 1869, p. 1.
    • New York Times, November 12, 1897, p. 6.
  • The North Star
    • Douglass, F. (1848). W. T. Catto, North Star, October 20, 1848.
• Silcox, H. (1977). Nineteenth Century Philadelphia Black Militant: Octavius V. Catto (1839–1871). Pennsylvania History 44(1): 53–76. [4]
• Waskie, A. (n. d.). Biography of Octavius V. Catto: "Forgotten Black Hero of Philadelphia." [5]

[edit] External links

• Octavius V. Catto, 1839-1871: Research Resources in Philadelphia Area Collections
• W. E. B. DuBois. (1899). The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
• V. Chapman Smith, The Triumph and Tragedy of Octavius V. Catto
• Coming soon: The Octavius V. Catto Memorial Fund
• Explore PA History: Octavius V. Catto Historical Marker, 812 South St., Philadelphia
• Explore PA History: Baseball in Philadelphia
• Octavius Catto at Find A Grave