Zaakir Tameez

Fascinating. Thanks! No need to send— I’m on a Sumner hiatus for the foreseeable future 😂

Wow! That’s fascinating. Admittedly, I didn’t know about the Waylon case. Where did you get this document?

You likely already know this but— the National Archives bldg in Waltham MA has many of Sumner’s case files. They are poorly organized but the librarians are helpful if contacted in advance.

He is indeed. An extraordinary book

Guest link— www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/b...

A Foremost Scholar of Slavery Wonders if America Can Ever Atone

My review of Eric Foner’s new book, “Our Fragile Freedoms,” for the New York Times—

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/b...

By interesting coincidence, I just read about this event in @ztameez.bsky.social‘s excellent new biography of Charles Sumner. Sumner was the attorney who argued the case before the MA Supreme Court. A century later, his arguments helped form the basis for the arguments in Brown v Board.

Here’s a thread from a reader with some excerpts from the book! 📚

Sumner’s brief in the Roberts case is not well-known, but it should be. It is stunningly perceptive about the psychological impact of segregation, and reads like the first filing in Brown v. Board of Education, decided over 100 years later.

The Sarah Roberts Case (U.S. National Park Service)

Happy first day of school, Boston!

And a happy new school opening day to The Sarah Roberts.

Sarah and her father Benjamin filed the first school desegregation suit in US history in 1849.

She was represented by Robert Morris, the first Black attorney in MA, and future US Senator Charles Sumner.

A photo of a bronze statue of a man in formal 19th-century attire - including a shirt with a collar, a bow tie, a waistcoat, a long jacket, and trousers - seated in a chair and gazing outward. Fingers of his right hand are inserted in at least two places into the book on his right knee.

Charles Sumner, 1875, by #AnneWhitney (American, 1821-1915), who was born #otd, Sept 2. Located in General MacArthur Square, Cambridge, MA.
#womenartists #artherstory

MHS Collections Online: Pen used by Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections Online: Pen used by Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation

DID YOU KNOW that the PEN with which President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation is at the Massachusetts Historical Society, because Senator Charles Sumner asked for it??

TIL from @ztameez.bsky.social’s Sumner bio!

www.masshist.org/database/4

@ztameez.bsky.social’s bio of Charles Sumner: such a good read and I am learning so much!

I am speaking on Sunday at 2pm for a live discussion on Charles Sumner… anyone is welcome, register here:

marketing.gilderlehrman.org/l/941553/202...

Incredible!

@sees.bsky.social

Here is what Charles Sumner said whenever he learned that yet another baby was named after him.

Very cool, great to meet you!

And you'd think there's a very good jumping off point that everyone knows about to talk about this: Preston Brooks nearly beating Charles Sumner to death.

Yes, and most formerly enslaved people were being extra polite when interviewed by whites. Here’s what Henry Ryan, formerly enslaved by Senator Andrew Butler, said:

“Old Judge Butler was a good man,” Ryan recalled. “Master wouldn’t let [his overseers] treat slaves cruel, just light whipping.”

How bad was slavery? Worse than anything you were taught in school, worse than anything you’ve seen in movies, worse, worse, worse.

“I think slavery,” Harriet Tubman said, “is the next thing to hell.”

If you’re still on the fence about buying the book, here’s a thoughtful review by
@genemeyer.bsky.social

Lovely photos! Thanks for sharing. The hair in Thomas Crawford’s sculpture is amazing.

Bust of a young Charles Sumner in white marble, from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Statue of Charles Sumner, in bronze, from the Boston Public Garden. Full statue in bronze of Sumner standing, holding a scroll to his chest atop a granite plinth that says simply "SUMNER." The statue is in snow with bare tree branches and more snow visible in the background.

I am so happy someone reposted this into my timeline today. I went to the same high school as Sumner (a few years behind him lol) and he has long been a favorite historical figure. Very excited to buy and read this! A couple of my own photos below of some favorite local depictions of Sumner. :-)

Really enjoyed this podcast!

Exploring Conscience of a Nation: Zaakir Tameez on Charles Sumner’s Fight for Justice Charles Sumner was one of the fiercest voices for abolition and racial equality in 19th-century America, but how much do we really know about the man behind the Sen…

And for my California Bay Area listeners - be sure to check out Tameez TONIGHT! He will be speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. You won’t want to miss it!
2/2

www.civicsandcoffee.com/exploring-co...

Thank you!

I am speaking tomorrow in San Francisco at 5:30pm at the Commonwealth Club. If you’re in the city, I would love to meet you at the book talk! Sign up for a ticket here:

www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-...

@cwclub.bsky.social

Jake is a speedier reader than I am, I’m only halfway through @ztameez.bsky.social’s Sumner biography. But I agree 100%: it’s an important book and a startlingly good one.

It’s been an ugly day on Twitter.