Arthur Jones
Published: 2021-09-19
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This is the remarkable true story of Pierre Toussaint (c.1781-1853), a slave who gained his freedom and became a well-known high-society hairstylist in New York City. A devout Catholic, Toussaint worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor and oppressed. At the time of his death, he was hailed as New York's leading black citizen. Now, he is now a candidate for sainthood.Toussaint was born on the island of Haiti, on a plantation owned by the Bérards, a prosperous French family, who raised him as a Catholic. When the Bérards fled to New York in 1797 during a slave uprising, they took Toussaint with them as a servant. New York held its own dangers: anti-Catholic sentiment was high and African-Americans were beaten on the streets. But Toussaint began to earn a substantial income as a hairdresser to upper-class women, including Alexander Hamilton's wife, a profession he continued after gaining his freedom in 1807. Moving in the higher echelons of society, Toussaint was reputed to know everything that went on in the city.In the first biography written for a mainstream audience, Arthur Jones draws on letters from Toussaint's friends and admirers, both black and white. They praised him equally for his charming, refined manners and for his exemplary charity work: caring for the poor, helping former slaves, and raising funds for New York's first Catholic cathedral. Toussaint was supported in this work by his wife, Juliette Gaston, a slave whose freedom he had purchased.In recognition of Toussaint's charity work, in 1996, the Catholic Church declared him "Venerable," the second step toward sainthood. Although Toussaint experienced poverty and prejudice, he found strength in his religious faith, his independence of mind, and his sense of personal dignity. In defying the strictures of a racist society, Toussaint became a symbol of hope for oppressed and maligned people of all backgrounds.
