Point Comfort

Point Comfort Point Comfort--it's about all of us. In 1607, English travelers aboard the Susan Constant came upon a stretch of sea that was steady and calm.

They named the spot “Point Comfort.” The term comfort means “with strength.”

A few years later, captured Angolas were brought by the White Lion ship, in 1619, to the same spot—to historic Fort Monroe, in Hampton, VA. Those enslaved African people provided uncompensated labor that built the Virginia colony. Today, the Chesapeake Bay waterway remains a historic landmark. The site of OpSail and rega

ttas. Nearby, at Hampton University, the Emancipation Oak remains. Its heavy branches a symbolic reminder of freedom for escaping African American people named contraband by the Union army in 1861. Under that tree, during the civil war, Mary Smith Peake taught African children and adults to read. It was also the site of the first southern reading of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The original Point Comfort lighthouse has been lost to time. A replica can be found at Buckroe Beach.

2007 marked the 400th anniversary of Hampton. 2019 was a national observance of the arrival of those enslaved West African people, 400 years ago. GL Harris, founder
Point Comfort

NSU president talks corporate partnerships in latest Behold magazine issue.
07/26/2021

NSU president talks corporate partnerships in latest Behold magazine issue.

If you missed our Q&A with President Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston in our recent Behold Magazine, you can read the entire article here. https://www.nsu.edu/News/Behold/Featured-Articles/2021/Behold-Q-A-%E2%80%93-Dr-J She talks about racial justice and HBCUs, corporate partnerships, the Mackenzie Scott gift, and more!

“Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd is another kind of flying. Thank you Ms. Kidd and Ms. Bessie Coleman for showing ...
06/17/2021

“Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd is another kind of flying. Thank you Ms. Kidd and Ms. Bessie Coleman for showing us how to fly.

Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to earn a pilot’s license 100 years ago today.

In the early 20th century, Coleman—who also had Native American heritage—was barred from getting a pilot's license in the U.S. because of her race and gender. So she went to France.

After earning her license there, she returned to Chicago where she'd been working (as a manicurist) and got a job as a "barnstorming" pilot performing stunts at aviation shows. In the era of Jim Crow laws, Coleman would only perform in shows if the crowds were desegregated.

On Sept. 3, 1922, in a borrowed Curtiss JN-4D Jenny at Curtiss Field on Long Island, Coleman made the first public flight by an African American woman in the U.S. She's with the same type of plane in this photo from our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Coleman had nearly reached her goal of opening a flying school for African Americans when she was killed in a flight accident at age 34. After her death, William Powell established the Bessie Coleman Aero Flying Club and put together the first Black female air show team. When Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to go to space, launched on her first spaceflight, she carried Coleman’s picture with her.

Memories of a great American actor. Missing you already Olivia Dukakis. ‘88 memorable performance in
05/02/2021

Memories of a great American actor. Missing you already Olivia Dukakis. ‘88 memorable performance in

Refresh for updates… After the death of Olympia Dukakis was announced on Saturday, social media reactions from former collaborators and Hollywood admirers began pouring in. “So, so sad …

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Point Comfort is a dream all of us--indigeneous or the American Indians, African peoples, and European.

In 1607, English travelers aboard the Susan Constant came upon a stretch of sea that was steady and calm. They promptly named the spot “Point Comfort.” This is what I wrote in 2007. But the arrival of 19 persons of African origin in 1619 forever altered the landscape here. Their story, and their descendants, became intertwined with the American Indian peoples and the English, Polish and Dutch. The Point Comfort page seeks to share our history, examine where we are and where we are headed. You are invited to participate in this conversation. 2010 marked the 400th anniversary of Hampton. And, 2019 will mark the 400 anniversary of the arrival of the kidnapped and enslaved Africans to the fledgling English Colony and all that has come to pass. updated 5/30/2018 G L Harris, founder Point Comfort HAMPTON by the sea + beyond...