CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

2023-08-14T09:00:07Z

Removed empty portal template using script

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:30, 14 August 2023
Line 68:		Line 68:

	== See also ==		== See also ==
	~~{{Portal\|United States\|American Civil War\|Biography}}~~
	*[[List of African-American abolitionists]][[List of enslaved people]]		*[[List of African-American abolitionists]][[List of enslaved people]]
	*[[List of African-American activists]]		*[[List of African-American activists]]

WikiDwarfBOT: robot: add new article

2023-07-22T09:29:18Z

robot: add new article

New page

{{Short description|American Author and former slave (1841–1927)}}
{{Infobox writer
| embed =
| honorific_prefix =
| name = George L. Knox Sr.
| honorific_suffix =
| image = File:George_L._Knox.png
| image_size = 150px
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = George L. Knox
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1841|09|16}}
| birth_place = [[Statesville, Tennessee]], US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1927|08|24|1841|09|16}}
| death_place = [[Richmond, Virginia]], US
| resting_place =
| occupation = Barber shop owner
| language =
| nationality = 
| citizenship = 
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre = 
| subject = 
| movement =
| notable_works = Slave and Freeman, the Autobiography of George L. Knox
| spouse = {{Flatlist |*Auralia S. (died 1910), *Margaret Nickens}}
| partner = 
| children = {{Flatlist |*William *Nellie *Edward, *Elwood}}
| relatives = {{Flatlist |*Mother Nancy Fisher *Siblings: Hulda and Charles}}
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| years_active =
| module =
| website = 
| portaldisp = 
}}

'''George Levi Knox''' (1841–1927)<ref name="S&F"/> from Indianapolis Indiana, was born in [[Statesville, Tennessee]] to slave parents. He was a runaway slave who served both the South and the North in the [[American Civil War]]. Later in life he published ''The [[Indianapolis Freeman]]'' from 1893 to 1926. He was an activist and a book author.<ref name="Indystar">{{cite news |title=George Knox, Indianapolis Publisher Dies In Virginia |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36294547/george-l-knox-dies-26-aug-1927-the/ |access-date=25 September 2021 |newspaper=[[The Indianapolis Star]] |date=26 August 1927}}</ref> Knox also owned a [[Negro league baseball]] team, Indianapolis's Barber B.B.C.<ref name="Blackbaseball"/> His grandson, [[George L. Knox II]], was a pilot with the [[Tuskegee Airmen|Tuskegee Airman]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="WV">{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Al |title=The Ghost of Old George Knox |url=http://weeklyview.net/2021/01/21/the-ghost-of-old-george-knox/ |website=The Weekly View |publisher=Weekly View |access-date=23 September 2021}}</ref>

==Early life==
Knox was born in Statesville, Tennessee in 1841 and sold into slavery in 1844, at three years old.<ref name="Colored">{{cite news |title=Colored Man, Old Friend of Riley, Dies in South |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36294411/george-l-knox-colored-friend-of/ |access-date=25 September 2021 |newspaper=[[The Indianapolis News]] |date=25 August 1927}}</ref> He married Auralia Susie Knox and together they had four children.<ref name="Colored"/> During the Civil War his master took him to the front lines. Knox escaped and joined the Union where he accompanied the [[55th Indiana Infantry Regiment]].

After the war, Knox learned the barber business. He was successful and in 1884 he opened his own barber and shaving parlor business at a cost of $10,000.<ref name="Digital">{{cite web |last1=George W. |first1=Penniman |title=Era of progress and promise, 1863-1910: the religious, moral, and educational development of the American Negro since his emancipation |url=https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll37/id/4583/ |website=digital.ncdcr.gov |publisher=General Collection. [[State Library of North Carolina]] |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref>

Knox's first wife Auralia died in 1910.<ref name="Wifedeath">{{cite news |title=Hamptons attend Mrs. George Knox funeral |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5249862/hamptons-attend-george-knox-funeral/ |access-date=26 September 2021 |issue=P1 |newspaper=[[Daily Reporter (Greenfield)|The Daily Reporter]] |date=15 September 1910}}</ref> In 1914, he married a woman named Mrs. Margaret Nickens.<ref name="S&F"/>

==Military==
As a slave, Knox was taken by his master to the front lines to serve the [[Confederate States of America]]. He was able to escape and was welcomed by the Northern Union troops. He served with 55th Indiana Infantry Regiment as a [[teamster]]. Eventually he made his way to Indianapolis with the 55th and left the military service.<ref name="Colored"/><ref name="Digital"/>

==Career==
In 1884 Knox moved to Indianapolis and opened several barbershops and shaving parlors. The barbershops employed black barbers but only served white people.<ref name="Barber">{{cite book |last1=Thornbrough |first1=Emma Lou |title=Civil War History |date=2 June 1980 |volume=26 |issue=2 |publisher=[[The Kent State University Press]] |location=Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |pages=185–186 |url=https://www.pdcnet.org/cwh/content/cwh_1980_0026_0002_0185_0186 |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref> He met many influential white people through his [[whites only]] barber shops, and he had an unsuccessful run for [[Us congress|US Congress]].<ref name="Digital"/>

In the early 1900s Knox ran shaving parlors in Indianapolis.<ref name="Ad">{{cite news |title=The finest in the State - The New Shaving Parlors |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36295316/ad-for-george-l-knox-shaving-parlor/ |access-date=26 September 2021 |issue=Advertisement |publisher=The Hancock Democrat |date=3 September 1903}}</ref> He owned an amateur Negro baseball team which was called Indianapolis's Barber Base Ball Club (B.B.C.). His son Elwood pitched for the team.<ref name="Blackbaseball">{{cite book |last1=Brunson III |first1=James E. |title=Black Baseball 1858-1900 |date=2019 |publisher=James E. Brunson III |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-9417-0 |page=897 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjOODwAAQBAJ&dq=George+L.+Knox+elwood&pg=PA897 |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref>

Knox purchased ''The [[Indianapolis Freeman]]'', an [[African-American newspaper]] (or race paper), and was the publisher from 1893 to 1926. The paper was called "A National Illustrated Colored Newspaper". [[Booker T. Washington]] was a contributor. The paper had a circulation of 25,000.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ad Sense |date=1905 |publisher=The New York Magazine |location=New York |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fFKAAAAYAAJ&dq=George+L.+Knox+elwood&pg=PA242 |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref> It was also sold internationally and covered everything from small black communities to sports and entertainment. The paper came out on Sundays and it was said their negative review of could ruin a career.<ref name="Showman">{{cite book |last1=Watkins |first1=Clifford |title=Showman |year=2003 |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |location=Jackson, Mississippi |isbn=1-57806-555-0 |pages=17–18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JR2XJjutQ-AC&dq=George+L.+Knox+elwood&pg=PA17 |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref>

Knox authored ''Slave and Freeman, the Autobiography of George L. Knox''.<ref name="S&F">{{cite book |last1=Knox |first1=George |title=Slave and Freeman, the Autobiography of George L. Knox |date=1979 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]]|location=Lexington Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-1384-9|pages=43–44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2e_n_AIaxSUC |access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref>

==Death==
Knox died on August 24, 1927, in Richmond, Virginia from a paralytic stroke.

== See also ==
{{Portal|United States|American Civil War|Biography}}
*[[List of African-American abolitionists]][[List of enslaved people]]
*[[List of African-American activists]]
*[[Slavery in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, George L.}}
[[Category:19th-century publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Newspaper publishers (people)]]
[[Category:1841 births]]
[[Category:1927 deaths]]
[[Category:Fugitive American slaves]]
[[Category:19th-century African-American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American activists]]
[[Category:African-American abolitionists]]
[[Category:African Americans in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:African-American writers]]

George L. Knox - Revision history

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

WikiDwarfBOT: robot: add new article