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Gustavus Vassa [Olaudah Equiano]., 1887. African author, writer, abolitionist, sailor and merchant: enslaved as a child, he was shipped to the Caribbean and sold to a Royal Navy officer. He purchased his freedom in 1766, and supported the British abolitionist movement in London. Equiano was a member of the Sons of Africa, and published his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" (1789), which depicted the horrors of slavery. From "Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising" by William J. Simmons.