{"id":2535,"date":"2023-05-13T23:09:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-13T23:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/?p=2535"},"modified":"2023-05-13T23:55:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T23:55:22","slug":"hicks-surname-in-black-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Hicks As An African American Last Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 42,556 black Americans with Hicks as their last name. That represented 27% of the total of 158,320 entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Hicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We end with a review of early records of black military service in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#After_The_Civil_War\" title=\"After The Civil War\">After The Civil War<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Hicks_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\" title=\"Hicks In The 1900 And 1940 Census\">Hicks In The 1900 And 1940 Census<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Hicks_Surname\" title=\"Historic Black Figures With The Hicks Surname\">Historic Black Figures With The Hicks Surname<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Ed_Hicks\" title=\"Ed Hicks\">Ed Hicks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Robert_Hicks\" title=\"Robert Hicks\">Robert Hicks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Hicks_In_Black_Military_Records\" title=\"Hicks In Black Military Records\">Hicks In Black Military Records<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Buffalo_Soldiers\" title=\"Buffalo Soldiers\">Buffalo Soldiers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Black_Civil_War_Sailors\" title=\"Black Civil War Sailors\">Black Civil War Sailors<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/#Tuskegee_Airmen\" title=\"Tuskegee Airmen\">Tuskegee Airmen<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"After_The_Civil_War\"><\/span>After The Civil War<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/civil-war-centennial-stamp.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-955\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1870 census was the first survey after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1850 and 1860, only free African Americans were recorded in the census. The many enslaved were omitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1870 onward, all black Americans were included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>4,543 people named Hicks were recorded in the 1870 census as black and 557 as mixed.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a total of 23,271 people with the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hicks_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\"><\/span>Hicks In The 1900 And 1940 Census<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The mixed category was dropped from the census in 1900, so we just need to look at the black numbers this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The 1900 census recorded 10,408 people with the last name Hicks as black within a total of 43,230 that year.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, the mixed category returned in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. It was dropped again in 1930, but replaced with extra categories for colored and non-white in a way that seems confusing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This changed again in 1940 and we can simply focus on one black category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The 1940 census recorded 16,180 people named Hicks as black within a total of 78,744.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Hicks_Surname\"><\/span>Historic Black Figures With The Hicks Surname<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Hicks-1024x536.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Hicks-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Hicks-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Hicks-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Hicks.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Here are some notable African Americans in history with Hicks as their last name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ed_Hicks\"><\/span>Ed Hicks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1873<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Dublin County, North Carolina<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Elaine Massacre of 1919 was a deadly racial conflict in Elaine, Arkansas. Sparked by tensions between white landowners and black sharecroppers seeking fair wages, the eventual violence resulted in the deaths of over one hundred African Americans and five white people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ed Hicks and his brother farmed 70 acres in Arkansas. They were leaders in the local farmers union. Both brothers were amongst the twelve men wrongfully convicted for murder and given the death penalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NAACP sent one of their New York leaders, <a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/white-surname-in-black-history\/#Walter_White\">Walter White<\/a>, to investigate. The noted black journalist, <a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wells-surname-in-black-history\/#Ida_Bell_Wells\">Ida B. Wells<\/a>, also traveled to investigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NAACP lawyers took the defense to the United States Supreme Court in 1923. The court ruled that white mob violence had influenced the trial and conviction of the men. Ed Hicks was released in 1925.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Robert_Hicks\"><\/span>Robert Hicks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1929<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Pachuta, Mississippi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 2010<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert (Bob) Hicks was one of the founders of the Bogalusa chapter of the Deacons for Defense and Justice. Hicks and others formed the group the day after the assassination of Malcom X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The aim was to protect activists from the KKK and other vigilantes. The group organized a boycott of white-owned businesses in Bogalusa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also marched for ten days from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge to protest for civil rights. Hicks also took part in a series of legal actions to fight segregation and discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hicks_In_Black_Military_Records\"><\/span>Hicks In Black Military Records<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Virginia.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-679\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Military records are a rich resource of for family history research. Here are examples of the Hicks surname from three different military services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Buffalo soldiers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Black civil war sailors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tuskegee airmen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buffalo_Soldiers\"><\/span>Buffalo Soldiers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Five regiments for black soldiers were formed during the Civil War. They were known as the Buffalo Soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their records are part of the national archive of military monthly returns. The information includes the year and place of birth, where they enlisted, their occupation, and their height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the earliest military entries for Hicks was in March 1867. Stephen Hicks was a Private in the Tenth Cavalry. He was stationed in March 1867 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was in August 1914. Howard F Hicks was a Sergeant in the Ninth Cavalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are researching military ancestors, there is a free index of these records on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/search\/collections\/1934\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ancestry.com<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.familysearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FamilySearch.org.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have to create an account on either website, but you do not need to pay for the Buffalo Soldiers archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Black_Civil_War_Sailors\"><\/span>Black Civil War Sailors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Parks Service has a free archive of African American sailors during the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The information includes their age, height, rank, occupation, and where and when they enlisted. It also includes every ship that they served on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can search the database on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/civilwar\/search-sailors.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Parks website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Samuel Hicks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the earliest entries for Hicks was for Samuel Hicks from Brooklyn, New York. He enlisted in June 4 1861 at New York when he was aged 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The record shows that Samuel was assigned on April 1 1864 to the ship Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His occupation before enlisting was as a Mariner\/Waiter\/Cook. His naval rank was Landsman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>&#8220;Landsman&#8221; was the lowest rank at the time and was given to recruits with little sea experience.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charles Hicks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was for a sailor who enlisted at New York in June 28 1864. Charles was aged 30 and was from Washington, District of Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was assigned to the ship Lenapee on March 31 1865.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His occupation before enlisting was as a Mariner. His naval rank was Seaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>A seaman in the Navy is a sailor who is not an officer.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tuskegee_Airmen\"><\/span>Tuskegee Airmen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Tuskegee-Airmen-Squadron.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Tuskegee Airmen were military personnel who served at the Tuskegee Army Airfield or related programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly one thousand black pilots graduated from the Tuskegee Institute. They flew single-engine fighter planes or twin-engine bombers. 352 fought in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arthur Hicks graduated from the Tuskegee Institute in May 1945. He qualified as a fighter pilot. Arthur was from Dayton, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frederick Hicks came from San Francisco, California. He graduated in February 1944 as a bomber pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find a full list of graduate pilots in our <a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/list-of-tuskegee-airmen\/\">list of Tuskegee Airmen<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 42,556 black Americans with Hicks as their last name. That represented 27% of the total of 158,320 entries. This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Hicks. We end with a review of early records of black &#8230; <a title=\"Hicks As An African American Last Name\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hicks-surname-in-black-history\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Hicks As An African American Last Name\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2535"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2562,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions\/2562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}