Open Letter to President McKinley by Colored People of Massachusetts

In this historic recording, a gathering of Boston’s African‑American community speaks directly to President William McKinley from a packed Charles Street Church in October 1899. The address, read aloud by Archibald H. Grimké, captures a moment when Black citizens organized through the Colored National League to voice their collective grievances and aspirations before a supportive audience.

The speakers present themselves not as petitioners but as full‑fledged American citizens, demanding the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness promised by the Constitution. They recount the violence, legal oppression, and silence of the federal government that have marked their experience since slavery’s end, and they call on the nation’s highest office to uphold the rights and protections all citizens deserve. Listeners will hear a powerful, early‑twentieth‑century appeal that reflects both the pain of persistent injustice and the resolve to claim equal standing in the republic.