George Downing – "Influential Restaurateur, Hotelier, Real Estate Mogul & Abolitionist"

https://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com/blog/2022/12/george-downing.html

Grand Old Partisan honors George Downing, born in New York City, December 30th 1819. His father, an ex-slave, was a successful caterer. The son developed his own businesses and organized a literary society for fellow Blacks.

Downing maintained friendships with Frederick Douglass, Charles Sumner and other Republican civil rights activists. He recruited military volunteers during the Civil War. Peace restored, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives named him manager of the congressional restaurant, a prestigious post.

Later years, Downing was active in the American Equal Rights Association. He championed racial desegregation as well as women’s suffrage.