James W.C. Pennington (1809 - 1870) was an African American orator, minister, and abolitionist. Pennington was born a slave in Washington County, Maryland. After escaping to Littlestown, Pennsylvania, Pennington moved to New York in 1828. A blacksmith by trade, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut, and audited classes at Yale Divinity School from 1834 to 1839 - becoming the first black man to attend classes at Yale. He was subsequently ordained and became a teacher, abolitionist, and author. He wrote The Origin and History of the Colored People in 1841, which has been called the first history of African Americans, and a slave narrative in 1850, The Fugitive Blacksmith. In 1849 the University of Heidelberg awarded him an honorary doctorate of divinity.