Durham, John Stephens
(born: 1861 - died: 1919)John Stephens Durham, sometimes said to be from Kentucky, was actually born in Philadelphia, PA. He was the United States Minister to Haiti (1891-1892); he had replaced Frederick Douglass, who had resigned. The appointment was made during the Harrison Administration. Durham had been the Consul at San Domingo (1890-1891).
Durham was an 1886 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the first African Americans to graduate from the school. He was a civil engineer; a journalist with the Bulletin, a Philadelphia newspaper; and an author of at least two books, Diane, Priestess of Haiti and To Teach the Negro History: a suggestion.
In 1897, Durham married Constance McKenzie, a white woman who had been the director of the Porter School Kindergarten in Philadelphia.
For more see "The West Indies," The Quarterly Register of Current History, vol. 1 (1892), pp. 439-440; "The New Minister to Haiti," New York Times, 9/06/1891, p. 1; and "School teacher weds a Negro," New York Times, 7/02/1897, p. 10.