Octavius Valentine Catto, Against the Grain

“The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for

men to see by.”  Felix Adler

Renée S. Gordon

                  On September 25, 2017 a sculptured monument was unveiled on the southwest portico of Philadelphia's City Hall. There are 1,700 sculptures in the city’s public art collection and A Quest for Parity: The Octavius V. Catto Memorial stands out for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is only monument dedicated to a single African American. After a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign African American sculptor Branly Cadet was commissioned to create the monument.

After tracing Catto’s footsteps in Philadelphia he designed a 12-ft. statue that depicts Catto in mid-stride, steadfastly looking and moving toward a future that Catto would help mold as part of a sculptural diorama. Pillars behind him record in granite and bronze the story of his life and accomplishments. Cadet has deftly captured the resolve that was intrinsic to his character as well as the look in his eyes that manages to express his personal dignity and reflect the vision he fought for.

                  Octavius Valentine Catto was born free in Charleston, South Carolina on February 22, 1839, the son of a freed father and a mixed race mother from an important family. In 1844 his father, Reverend William T. Catto, became the minister of Philadelphia’s First African Presbyterian Church and the family relocated. He was tutored at home by his father and educated in area public schools, New Jersey’s white Allentown Academy and Institute for Colored Youth (ICY). He went on to become one of the most significant and aggressive civil rights activist of his era

                  You can trace a large portion of his journey in Philadelphia and the majority of the sites are within walking distance of one another. Stop one should be his memorial to give you a sense of the man and his mission. A historic marker designates the site of Catto’s home at 812 South Street.*

                  John Gloucester founded the First Colored Presbyterian Church in 1807. Gloucester had been the slave of a Dr. Blackburn who freed him, because of his religious fervor, to become a missionary. He purchased land and built a church at 7th and Bainbridge. It was here that Catto’s father became the minister. The church is the oldest African Presbyterian Church in the country and is now located at 4159 Girard Avenue.

                  Octavius completed his Philadelphia education at the Quaker endowed school, ICY, now Cheyney University. The high school was located at 716 Lombard Street and taught liberal arts. Upon graduation in 1858 Catto moved to Washington, D.C. to continue his studies with the addition of Greek and Latin. He returned to Philadelphia the following year to teach English and mathematics at the Institute for Colored Youth.

                   During this period he became very active. He was a member of the Benjamin Banneker Institute, an African American literary society established in 1854 at 409 S. 11^th Street. In 1870 he was the first African American inducted into the Franklin Institute of Science over vocal objections.

                  Catto was a tireless activist, working on behalf of slavery abolition, African American rights and education. The Civil War gave him the opportunity to expand his arena. He raised a regiment of black soldiers that couldn’t obtain authorization to fight. Once black troops were allowed he and Frederick Douglass recruited eleven black regiments in the city. They were trained at Camp William Penn, the first army training camp for black soldiers in the Civil War, at 7322 Sycamore Ave.

                  Visits to the camp required transportation and Philadelphia’s horse-drawn trolleys refused passage to blacks or forcibly ejected them. On May 16, 1865 Catto boarded a Pine Street trolley and, when told, refused to leave. The driver derailed the trolley, unhooked the horses and abandoned Catto to sit in the car alone. He spent the entire night sitting there in protest. He later worked to help pass a state bill prohibiting transportation discrimination. Note, the plaque on the monument shows him sitting alone.

                  Catto’s activism extended to sports and as a result of the exclusion of African Americans from the city’s baseball clubs he and friends established the Pythian Base Ball Club in 1867. After continued denied entry into the baseball associations in 1869 the Olympics, a white team accepted their invitation to play against them. The game took place at the Olympics field at 25^th and Jefferson on September 3^rd. The Olympics won the game that is the first official baseball game between all white and all black teams. Catto was inducted into the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame because of his contribution to baseball heritage as founder, manager and player.

                  The 15^th Amendment, giving blacks the right to vote, became law in 1870 and Catto made voter education his mission. On October 10, 1871, the day of the mayoral election, as 32-year-old Catto walked near 9^th and South Streets he was shot three times point blank by Frank Kelly and died instantly. His body was identified by his fiancé.  Kelly, despite numerous eyewitness accounts, was acquitted at his 1877 trial.

                  His funeral service was held in the Armory at Broad and Race Streets and more than 5,000 people attended. He was originally interred in Lebanon Cemetery but his remains were later moved to Eden Cemetery, 1434 Springfield Road, in Collingdale in Lot 124. In 2007 the Octavius V. Catto’s Memorial Fund replaced his plain marker with a more detailed headstone that describes him as “The Forgotten Hero.”

*As of this writing the marker has been significantly defaced.