Honoring Cudjo Banquante: Revolution War Hero & Newark’s First Black Business Owner

A Revolutionary Week of Events Comes to Newark

Honoring Cudjo Banquante: Revolution War Hero & Newark’s First Black Business Owner

April 27 – May 4, 2025

Newark, NJ – The city of Newark will be the site of a week-long series of exciting and informative events honoring Cudjo Banquante (c. 1720 – 1823), an enslaved African who fought in the American Revolutionary War, secured his freedom because of his service, and became Newark’s first Black business owner.

There will be something for everybody, including performances, a genealogy workshop, film screenings, guided bus tours, and a grave marking ceremony at NJPAC. These events are open to all and most of them are free. Additionally, Rutgers University Newark is organizing an academic symposium aimed at an academic audience.

Born into the Akyem Abuakwa royal family of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Cudjo became a victim of the Trans-Atlantic trade in Africans. By the time of the American Revolution, he was enslaved by Benjamin Coe of Newark. During the war, the Coe family fled to Morristown, NJ, where Cudjo was enlisted in the Continental Army as a substitute soldier for Benjamin Coe. He fought in multiple conflicts, including the Battles of Monmouth, Germantown, and Yorktown. For his service, he was freed and granted land in Newark, where he built a successful ornamental plant business. Cudjo lived to about 100 years old and was survived by his wife and children. He was buried at Newark’s Trinity Church cemetery, where the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) now stands. For a full biography and bibliography please visit: Cudjo Banquante: African Enslaved Soldier Business Owner | The New Jersey Historical Society

Events are offered by a wide range of organizations including New Jersey Historical Society, Newark History Society, Newark Public Library, Newark Museum of Art, Morristown Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1804 Consultants, Rutgers University, NJPAC, New Jersey Amistad Commission, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Greater Newark Conservancy, artist John Phillip Osborne, composer Courtney Bryan, and Sophia Inclusive Community.

For venue details and addresses, please visit: https://www.newarkhistorysociety.org/honoring-cudjo-banquante/

Join us in celebrating Cudjo Banquante

African * Enslaved * Soldier * Business Owner * American