James Hunter Young

Pictured is James Hunter Young, politician, businessman and racial spokesman.

Born in Vance county in 1858, Hunter came to Raleigh following the Civil War, where he later became actively involved in the Republican Party, and later Fusion politics in the 1890s.

He was elected to the Raleigh Board of Aldermen in 1883, and was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1894 and 1896. Young owned and operated the Raleigh Gazette newspaper from 1893 to 1898.

Republican Gov. Daniel Russell appointed him colonel of an African American volunteer regiment for the Spanish-American War in 1898, making him the first African American to hold the rank of colonel in the U.S.

President William McKinley appointed Young deputy revenue collector for Raleigh in 1899, a post he held until 1913.

After his retirement from politics, Young operated various successful businesses in Raleigh and continued to champion for racial harmony and equality. Young died in 1921 and is buried in Raleigh’s Mt. Hope Cemetery.
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Source:
N.76.11.20
From the General Negative Collection, State Archives of NC