The United States’ First African-American Diplomat

On October 16, 1833, Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was born near Litchfield, Connecticut to free black parents who held prominent roles in Connecticut’s free black community. Bassett’s father was a businessman who had served as one of Connecticut’s Black Governors — an honorary leadership role in the state’s black community — and his grandfather was a former slave who earned his freedom by serving as a soldier in the Continental Army. In 1869, Bassett broke down another notable color barrier by becoming the first African-American diplomat in United States history after President Ulysses S. Grant nominated him to be the American minister to Haiti. Read his story HERE.