James W.C. Pennington (1809 - 1870) was an African American orator, minister, and abolitionist.
James Pembroke was born a slave on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. When his owner died, he became the property of his son, Frisby Tilghman who moved to Rockland, Washington County, Maryland. There James learned the trades of brickmaker and blacksmith. On October 28, 1827 he ran from a job in Hagerstown, towards Petersburg (now called York Springs), Pennsylvania. He changed his name to James W.C. Pennington and moved to New York in 1828. He settled in New Haven, Connecticut, and audited classes at Yale Divinity School from 1834 to 1839 - becoming the first black man to attend classes at Yale. He was subsequently ordained and became a teacher, abolitionist, and author.
He wrote The Origin and History of the Colored People in 1841, which has been called the first history of African Americans, and a slave narrative in 1849, The Fugitive Blacksmith.
In 1849 the University of Heidelberg awarded him an honorary doctorate of divinity.