Josiah Wedgwood may be
remembered today in his eponymous pottery, but his life was far more
exciting than that association would lead one to think.
In his day he was a prominent abolitionist, and his pottery company
made a medallion with the design of a black slave on his knees with
the motto, “Am I not a man and brother?” He produced large
quantities of the medallion and distributed them for free through
the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Fashionable women
started wearing them as jewelry and men smoked pipes with the image
on the side. It became the most widely recognized image of a black
person during the 1700s. Josiah died before slavery was abolished in
England.
He also has the distinction of being the grandfather of Charles
Darwin.