There will be a public unveiling of a statue erected to remember the life, ministry and legacy of Octavius Valentine Catto that will be held at Philadelphia City Hall tomorrow, Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at 11 a.m. Both the Very Rev. Martini Shaw and the Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez will be present and provide a Prayer for the Ceremony and bless the statue.
An Episcopalian and member of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Octavius Valentine Catto (1839-1871) was a celebrated student at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) Philadelphia's premier high school for African-American youth, now Cheyney University. A leader of the National Equal Rights League, Catto spearheaded the effort to desegregate streetcars and win the vote for black men. He was assassinated on Election Day October 10, 1871. Octavius V. Catto was remembered as a "Martyr to the cause of Constitutional Liberty."
