Hezekiah Grice

Biography

Hezekiah Grice (c. 1801 – 1863) was an American and Haitian activist, machinist, and businessman, noted for his political activity in Baltimore during the early 19th century. While working as a machinist in Baltimore, he was either the first person or one of the first people to suggest holding a National Negro Convention to discuss the possibility of mass emigration by African Americans away from the United States. This was the beginning of the Colored Conventions Movement. Grice was also a leading figure in the founding of the Legal Rights Association, which has been credited with helping to clarify citizenship rights in America, as well as with pioneering several important tactics in American civil rights activism. He later moved to Haiti where he could secure full citizenship rights. There he became a prominent tradesman and a confidant of Faustin Soulouque.

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