These events, which were news to me as I read these materials, convened many hundreds of people from the mid 19th century through Reconstruction. The first was held in 1830 to advocate against mob violence and exclusionary laws (Colored Conventions Project/about Conventions). Most attendees were men but women appeared in their roles as journalists, for instance. They met in many different kinds of public spaces, including churches and theatres. The convention goers and speakers kept a close eye on discriminatory legislation as it passed through American political life and did their best to organize resistance to discrimination. It was great to see the resources for teaching available at https://coloredconventions.org/ . I looked at the record for the 1865 North Carolina State Convention of Colored People Held in Raleigh. 150 delegates attended, according to the report, and apparently some delegates had to escape their homes in order to attend, per the harrowing first paragraph of the report. Writes the reporter, “all seem to have come together with an earnest wish and determination to do their best for the interests of their race.”  They gathered in the Lincoln Church (local AME Church, one of many places I am seeing in all of these records named after Lincoln). To my surprise, the resolutions focused more on what they hoped to see in the black community than in advocating specific political requests to the white community - I think this reflects the newness of this transition from slavery to freedom. It was interesting to see advice and resolutions “against the crowding into the towns and cities,” and “declaring unworthy of confidence or respect any colored man or woman who would not do for a colored person what they would for a white person under the same circumstances.” What an interesting record and resource - my favorite activity thus far.