Founders and early members included Prince Amy, Lincoln Elliot, Bristol Yamma, Zingo Stevens and Newport Gardner.
[4] Since most sources of welfare at the time were controlled by whites, free blacks across the early United States created their own mutual aid societies.
Because Newport was a major slave port, the city was home to one of the largest populations of enslaved and free Blacks in the American Colonies.
[9] Founding members included Abraham Casey, Salmar Nubia, Quam Bowers, Zingo Stevens, Quash Mowat, Cubber Rodman, Cudjo Hicks, Congo Jenkins, Cuffe Mumford and Arthur Tikey.
"[8] It may be home to the largest and oldest surviving collection of burial markers of enslaved and free Africans from the time period.