Kiln-glazed brick. [New York], 6 May 1835. 8 x 4 x 2 in. Incised inscription: “Henry Nott May 6 1835 the first Day of strike.”

A rare artifact linking an African American craftsman to one of the earliest phases of organized labor action in America. The brick bears the signature and date of Henry Nott, a Black stonemason born in New York circa 1810 and recorded there in the 1880 U.S. Census. Materially, the brick shows a kiln‑formed glaze with clear, hand‑cut lettering.

Dated 6 May 1835, the inscription falls squarely within the spring upsurge of ten‑hour‑day agitation that crested across the Mid‑Atlantic that year, culminating in the Philadelphia general strike and echoed by organizing in New York’s building trades. As a mason’s material, inscribed contemporaneously, the brick is a direct witness to how journeymen and laborers marked participation in the movement for shorter hours.

A rare piece representing American labor history, African American urban life, and the material culture of the building trades in the Jacksonian era.

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation]