George Washington Henderson, a former slave and probably the second Black student to graduate from the University of Vermont. He was also the first African American student in the U.S. to be elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
Until 2004, George Washington Henderson was believed to be the University of Vermont’s first Black graduate — that is, until university archivist Jeffery Marshall confirmed that a previous African American student had preceded Henderson by nearly 40 years. After being refused admission to Union and Middlebury colleges, Andrew Harris enrolled in and graduated from the University of Vermont as part of the class of 1838. You can read the story of archivist Marshall’s discovery at THIS LINK.
I was unaware of any of these developments until yesterday afternoon, when I came across the report below, reprinted in Frederick Douglass’ Paper [sic], on September 22, 1854. A little poking around revealed that I was reading about the very same Black student who UVM’s archivist rediscovered five years ago. Before appearing in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, this following article first appeared in the Rochester American:
COLORED STUDENTS IN AMERICAN COLLEGES. In announcing that George B. Vashon, a colored lawyer and a graduate of Obertlin, will henceforth be one of its regular contributors, Frederick Douglass’ Paper refers to his having obtained liberal education in a College, as a very remarkable fact. Doubtless it is true that a few colored men find their way to our highest institutions of learning; and yet, that they have sometimes done so is undeniable. An instance of the kind came under our own observation. A young colored man named HARRIS, was examined and admitted to the sophomore class of the University of Vermont at Burlington. He pursued his studies regularly and graduated with his class. A few of the students objected to recite with him, but this insubordination was very soon put down the College authorities. None of the Faculty were abolitionists. They took the ground in adducting HARRIS that he gave evidence of the requisite qualifications, and that nothing in the laws of the University warranted the rejection of his application on account of his color. We understood at the time that he previously applied unsuccessfully for admission to Union College. The Faculty could find no law or rule excluding him, but having chosen to submit the question to the class, he was voted out.
HARRIS we believe has been dead some years.
There can be no Christian theology that is not identified unreservedly with those who are humiliated and abused. In fact, theology ceases to be a theology of the gospel when it fails to arise out of the community of the oppressed. For it is impossible to speak of the God of Israelite history, who is the God revealed in Jesus Christ, without recognizing that God is the God of and for those who labor and are over laden.
Biographical Notes: James H. Cone is the Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary. He is a graduate of Philander Smith College (B.A., 1958), Garret Theological Seminary (M.A., 1963), and Northwestern University (M.A., 1963 and Ph.D., 1965). The author of 11 books and over 150 articles, Professor Cone is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church.
For a more detailed account of Professor Cone’s scholarly work and professional achievements, visit THIS PAGE on the Union Theological Seminary website.
THIS LINK will take you to a 2008 NPR interview with Professor Cone.
Don’t let the Georgia justice system execute a wrongfully-convicted man. Take action in support of Troy Davis.
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I am taking a step away from the usual content of this blog to participate in a Global Day of Blogging for Troy Davis. Many thanks to Sojourner’s Place for bringing this critical event to my attention.
17 years ago, Troy Davis was convicted of the first-degree murder of Georgia police officer Mark McPhail. Davis was sentenced to death. Since that time, 7 of the 9 witnesses who testified against Mr. Davis have recanted or contradicted their testimony. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Several witnesses have since stated that they felt intimidated or coerced by the police into testifying against Mr. Davis.
On March 18, 2009 the Georgia Supreme court narrowly voted to deny Davis’s request for a new trial, despite strong support for a retrial from Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears. Most recently the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his request for clemency.
Please note that while sufficient evidence exists to support clemency (and I strongly believe that Davis deserves clemency), Troy Davis has simply asked for a retrial in light of new evidence supporting his innocence.
Time is running out for Troy Davis. The State of Georgia wants to schedule a fourth execution date. Today I am posting as part of a Global Day of action on Mr. Davis’s behalf. In the name of justice, please click on the following link, and follow one of the suggestions listed:
We the people, who endured the abortion of Reconstruction and carried the weight of Jim Crow. We the people, who swung from Southern trees and stood on the front lines of foreign wars. We the people, who taught our children to read even though the schools had no books. We the people, who worshipped a God of liberation even as we suffered oppression. We the people, who gave America back its highest ideals with our nonviolent struggle against injustice. We the people are now Americans.
–Melissa Harris-Lacewell in The Nation, 11.24.08 (FLYP Magazine)
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You can find my earlier blogpost on Dr. Harris-Lacewell at THIS link.
The anti-slavery writings of Theodore Parker, Harvard class of 1831, inspired politicians and activists from Abraham Lincoln to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but he didn’t impress the pro-slavery partisans at the New York Herald.
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New York is and probably will always be my favorite city. It is the home to so many of the cultural and intellectual institutions and legacies that are dear to me. It is, however, also home to some things that we’d probably be better off without.
One of those is The New York Herald, what PBS’s American Experience calls Americans “first major ‘scandal sheet.'” The Herald made its bread and butter off of rumors, rants, gossip, and a steady stream of strident, pro-slavery tirades. The Herald was a staunch and shameless supporter of the enslavement of Black people.
Consider, for example, this passage, in which the Herald equates the presence of vocal abolitionsts on the Harvard University campus with high treason against the United States. This short piece was reprinted in Frederick Douglass’ Paper on August 24, 1855, as evidence of the Herald’s unapologetic racism:
HARVARD COLLEGE AGAIN. Old Harvard is fairly earning the reputation, of being an Abolition College . The only subject conscientiously taught there appears to be treason. The authorities would not confirm Judge Loring, though he was apparently the best man for the law chair, because he would not perjure himself; nor would they grant a degree to Mr. Elliot, because he had voted for the compromise Measures. According to the code of morals in force at Harvard, no Southern man deserves collegiate honors. Nay, more, no Northern man can attain the highest rank in learning, letters or science, unless he agree with the Harvard people in politics. Thus, Daniel Webster would not have been deemed fit for honors, nor neither of the Adams’s, nor John Hancock, nor any of the Revolutionary heroes of New England. The only men, according to the authorities of Harvard, who deserve to be decorated with collegiate degrees, are Theodore Parker, William Lloyd Garrison, Gerrit Smith, Frederick Douglass, and a few others of that school. To such a depth has sunk the oldest collegiate institution in the United States! N.Y. Herald .
Videotaped press conference with Phoebe Haddon, the first African American Dean in 185-year history of the University of Maryland Law School:
On March 30, 2009, the University of Maryland announced the selection of Temple University law professor Phoebe Haddon to become the ninth dean of the University of Maryland School of Law. University President David J. Ramsay describes Haddon as, “passionate about legal education, about the essential role of innovative and influential scholarship in the continued development of our faculty, and about the School of Law’s vital public service mission.”
A fourth-generation lawyer, Prof. Haddon is also married to a lawyer, Temple University Professor Emeritus of Law, Frank McClellan. The have three children, a daughter and two sons.
The University of Maryland press release highlights some of Haddon’s achievements:
Haddon earned an LLM from Yale Law School and a Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Duquesne Law Review. She received a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and served as Vice-Chair of the Smith College Board of Trustees until her appointment as dean. She served as a law clerk for The Hon. Joseph F. Weis, Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and practiced at Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C., before joining the faculty at Temple law school. She teaches courses on constitutional law, torts, products liability, and race and ethnicity.
An accomplished national scholar on constitutional law and tort law, Haddon is the co-author of two casebooks in those fields and has written numerous scholarly articles on equal protection, jury participation, academic freedom, and diversity.
Haddon is widely recognized as a national leader in organizations dedicated to improving American legal education. She serves on the Council of the American Bar Association Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, the official accrediting body of American law schools. She has served as co-president of the board of governors and member of the executive committee of the Society of American Law Teachers, member of the executive committee of The Association of American Law Schools, and trustee of the Law School Admissions Council.
Congratulations to Professor Haddon. Black on Campus will continue to share news of academic firsts as they happen. If you know of any Black firsts or if you are one yourself, I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
It’s that time of year again. Seniors are pulling the last all-nighters of their undergraduate careers as they finish their thesis projects; faculty members are preparing for the busiest time of the semester, as they wait to receive the inevitable avalanche of final papers and exams; landscapers are beautifying the lawns and flower beds of their campuses in preparation for the arrival of parents and alumni; and college administrators are dusting off their full academic regalia as they anticipate the greatest day of celebration in the academic year. Commencement is right around the corner, and in addition to earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, colleges and universities across the country are finalizing their plans to recognize the nation’s (and the world’s) most accomplished artists, writers, scholars, leaders, and performers with honorary degrees.
Here is a list of just a few of the men and women of African descent who will be so-honored during this year’s commencement season. The name of the awarding institution is in parentheses:
Aretha Franklin, award-winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist (Brown University)
Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor, scholar, and commentator on issues of race and the African diaspora (Columbia University)
Helene D. Gayle, President/CEO of CARE USA (Columbia University)
Clarence Otis, CEO of Darden Restaurants Inc., the largest full-service dining restaurant company in the world (Williams College)
Arthur Mitchell, the first Black principal dancer in a major ballet company, and founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem (Southern Methodist University)
Olufunmilayo Olopade, Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, Director of the Cancer Risk Clinic, University of Chicago (Bowdoin College)
Harold Moss, first African American Mayor of Tacoma, Washington (University of Puget Sound)
Raymond B. Johnson, the first African American Commanding Officer of the Naval Regional Medical Center in Newport, RI and the first African American Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD (Dartmouth College)
Bill Russell, retired Hall-of-Fame basketball star (NBA and collegiate) (Dartmouth College)
Edward Joseph Perkins, retired ambassador and former Director of the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Corps (University of Oklahoma)
William Pickens III, founder and president of Bill Pickens Associates, Inc., an international consulting and executive search firm he founded in 1979. He is also the founding president and chief executive officer of the Paul Robeson Foundation (University of Vermont)
Johnnetta Betsch Cole, former President of Spelman College,currently the Director of the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution (Howard University)
Laurence J. Fishburne III, award-winning actor, playwright, director, and producer (Howard University)
