author
Anna Bustill Smith
1862–1945
A pioneering Black genealogist and suffragist, she preserved family and community histories that might otherwise have been lost. Her best-known writing captures the lives of Black residents of Princeton, New Jersey, with warmth and care.
1 Audiobook
Reminiscences of Colored People of Princeton, N. J.: 1800-1900
by Anna Bustill Smith
About the author
Born in Philadelphia in 1862, Anna Bustill Smith came from the prominent Bustill family and was part of a tradition of Black activism, education, and public service. She is widely described as the first known African American genealogist in the United States, and she was also active in the fight for women's suffrage.
Her writing focused on preserving memory. She documented members of the Bustill family and published Reminiscences of Colored People of Princeton, N.J., 1800-1900 in 1913, a valuable account of Black community life in Princeton. That work remains especially important because it records people and stories often left out of mainstream histories.
Smith died in August 1945. Although she is not as widely known as some of her contemporaries, her work still stands out for its careful attention to family, community, and the historical record.