Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a Philadelphia hero, Octavius V. Catto. If you come to Philadelphia, you will see a statue of Octavius Catto on the south side of City Hall. It is the city's first public statue honoring an individual African American. Throughout his life, Catto was an outspoken activist for the abolition of slavery and for equal rights for Black Americans. During the Civil War, he joined Frederick Douglass and other Black leaders to recruit African Americans to join the fight for emancipation. After the war, Catto continued his advocacy and successfully fought to desegregate Philadelphia's streetcars. Catto was a man of many accomplishments. He graduated from the Institute for Colored Youth, which is now Pennsylvania-05's own Cheyney University, the first HBCU in the country. He also ran the undefeated Pythian Baseball Club of Philadelphia, a Negro League baseball team that played the first Black versus White game. However, the most enduring part of Catto's legacy is his efforts to secure the right to vote for Black Americans. He was a champion for suffrage and fought to ensure that no one would be denied access to the ballot box. Ultimately, his life's work brought about Catto's untimely death. On October 10, 1871, the first election day that Black men were allowed to vote in Philadelphia, 32-year-old Catto was shot and killed by a White mob trying to stop the Black vote.…”