James Monroe Trotter

Who was James Monroe Trotter?

James Monroe Trotter was an American teacher, soldier, employee of the U.S. Postal Service, a music historian, and Recorder of Deeds in Washington, DC. Born into slavery in Mississippi, he, his two sisters and their mother Letitia were freed by their master, the child's father, and helped to move to Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up in freedom, attending school and becoming a teacher.

During the American Civil War, Trotter enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry USCT, and was quickly promoted; he was the first man of color to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the US Army. After the war, he married and moved with his wife to Boston. He was the first man of color hired by the US Postal Service there and worked with them for many years. He wrote a history of music in the United States which is still in print. In 1886 he was appointed by the Republican administration as the Recorder of Deeds in Washington, DC, the highest federal position available at the time for African Americans.

His son William Monroe Trotter became a rights activist and was founder and editor of The Guardian, an abolitionist newspaper.