{"id":2971,"date":"2023-06-05T22:14:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T22:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/?p=2971"},"modified":"2023-06-05T22:14:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T22:14:33","slug":"rodgers-surname-in-black-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodgers As An African American Last Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 18,141 black Americans with Rodgers as their last name. That represented 24% of the total of 76,095 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 Rodgers.<\/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\/rodgers-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\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Rodgers_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\" title=\"Rodgers In The 1900 And 1940 Census\">Rodgers 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\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Rodgers_Surname\" title=\"Historic Black Figures With The Rodgers Surname\">Historic Black Figures With The Rodgers 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\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Gustavus_Rodgers\" title=\"Gustavus Rodgers\">Gustavus Rodgers<\/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\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Vel_Rodgers_Phillips\" title=\"Vel Rodgers Phillips\">Vel Rodgers Phillips<\/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\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Rodgers_In_Black_Military_Records\" title=\"Rodgers In Black Military Records\">Rodgers 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\/rodgers-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\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Tuskegee_Airmen\" title=\"Tuskegee Airmen\">Tuskegee Airmen<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/#Rodgers_In_The_Freedmens_Bureau_Records\" title=\"Rodgers In The Freedmen&#8217;s Bureau Records\">Rodgers In The Freedmen&#8217;s Bureau Records<\/a><\/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 loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette.jpg 800w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/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>2,005 people named Rodgers were recorded in the 1870 census as black and 254 as mixed.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a total of 18,695 people with the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rodgers_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\"><\/span>Rodgers 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 6,245 people with the last name Rodgers as black within a total of 33,142 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 6,004 people named Rodgers as black within a total of 38,673.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Rodgers_Surname\"><\/span>Historic Black Figures With The Rodgers Surname<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Rodgers-1024x536.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2977\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Rodgers-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Rodgers-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Rodgers-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Rodgers.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some notable African Americans in history with Rodgers as their last name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gustavus_Rodgers\"><\/span>Gustavus Rodgers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1885<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 1961<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Gustavus Rodgers worked as a carpenter as a young man in Philadelphia. When he attended an evangelical Adventist meeting in Delaware in 1908, he converted to become a Seventh Day Adventist. He was tasked to be an evangelist among the black community in Baltimore and grew a small flock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Acclaimed as an orator, he formed relationships with other black denominations like the AME churches. Rodgers pushed hard to promote education opportunities for African Americans in the Maryland branches of the religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodgers was sent to Washington where he drew in several renowned black figures. He greatly expanded the church school before departing for Los Angeles. Rodgers built a new church there and drew crowds with his sermons. His longstanding advocacy for equality within the religion was not always popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Vel_Rodgers_Phillips\"><\/span>Vel Rodgers Phillips<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1924<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 2018<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Velvalia Rodgers won a scholarship to study at Howard University in Washington D.C. which was segregated at the time. When Vel was told to leave worship at a church, she got involved with the NAACP. She married Dale Phillips, and both graduated from the University of Wisconsin law school together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They opened a legal practice in Milwaukee. Vel Phillips won a seat on the Milwaukee town council in 1956. She was the first African American to do so. As an active member of the NAACP, she was arrested at a peaceful rally after the organization\u2019s office was firebombed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1971, she became the first African American judge in Wisconsin. Seven years later, she was elected Secretary of State in Wisconsin. Amongst her many other accomplishments, she was the Distinguished Professor of Law at Marquette University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rodgers_In_Black_Military_Records\"><\/span>Rodgers In Black Military Records<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois.jpg 600w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Military records are a rich resource of information for family history research. Here are examples of the Rodgers surname from different military services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Buffalo soldiers<\/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 Rodgers was in July 1867. Samuel Rodgers was a Private in the U.S. Tenth Cavalry. He was stationed in July 1867 at Fort Arbuckle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was in April 1915. Russell Rodgers was a Private in the U.S. 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=\"Tuskegee_Airmen\"><\/span>Tuskegee Airmen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Tuskegee-Plane.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Tuskegee-Plane.jpg 700w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Tuskegee-Plane-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/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>Marion Rodgers graduated from the Tuskegee Institute in February 1944. He qualified as a fighter pilot. Marion was from Elizabeth, New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rodgers_In_The_Freedmens_Bureau_Records\"><\/span>Rodgers In The Freedmen&#8217;s Bureau Records<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Freedmen\u2019s Bureau was established after the Civil War to help newly freed African Americans. You can read more in our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/research-freedmens-bureau-records\/\">researching the Freedmen archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are over 1,030 records for Rodgers in the archives. Here are some of the first names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Alexander<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clarissa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Howard<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Margaret<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 18,141 black Americans with Rodgers as their last name. That represented 24% of the total of 76,095 entries. This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Rodgers. We end with a review of early records of black &#8230; <a title=\"Rodgers As An African American Last Name\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/rodgers-surname-in-black-history\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Rodgers As An African American Last Name\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2977,"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\/2971"}],"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=2971"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2978,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2971\/revisions\/2978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}