James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey was born on October 18, 1875, in the Gold Coast Colony (now Ghana). A Livingstone College and Columbia University graduate, Aggrey was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church best remembered for his work promoting education and racial cooperation in Africa. In December 1918, he was serving as the secretary of the Western North Carolina conference of the AME Zion Church. He was a longtime resident of Salisbury, at which place he is buried. Aggrey died in New York City on July 30, 1927.