https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/prudence-crandall/
Prudence Crandall (1803-1890)
Prudence Crandall was a remarkable woman who
opened one of the first schools for African American girls, despite the
ridicule and harassment she faced because of her actions.
Prudence Crandall was born in Hopkinton, Rhode
Island on September 3, 1803 to a Quaker family. She attended the New
England Friends’ Boarding School in Providence, where she was able to
study subjects such as arithmetic, Latin and the sciences. Although
most women during the early 1800’s did not receive much education,
Quakers (or Friends) believed that women should be educated.
In October of 1831, Crandall opened a private
girl’s academy in Canterbury, Connecticut. She taught the daughters
of many of the town’s wealthy families, and the school was ranked as
one of the best in the state. Her curriculum was rigorous, as she
taught her female students much of the same material being taught at
prominent schools for boys.
In 1833, Crandall decided to admit an African
American student named Sarah Harris, who wanted more education in order
to become a teacher for African American children. The white
students’ parents were outraged and demanded that Sarah Harris be
expelled. Crandall, however, opposed slavery and believed in
educating African Americans. She refused to expel the young student and
decided instead to open a new school for African American girls.
Prudence Crandall’s new school met with much
hostility. The four most prominent men in the town of Canterbury
arranged a meeting in which they told Crandall that they were intent on
destroying her school. The men objected to educating African
Americans in their hometown and felt it might lead them to believe they
were equal and to interracial marriages. Women in the 1800s were
raised to obey men’s wishes, but Crandall did not back down.
Crandall enlisted the help of William Lloyd Garrison, editor of the Liberator,
the nation’s major antislavery newspaper. Garrison supported her and
directed her to several families interested in sending their girls to
Crandall’s boarding school. Although African Americans, these families
not only were emancipated, but also affluent enough to pay the
tuition. In addition, Garrison placed advertisements for Crandall’s
school in his newspaper.
On March 9, 1833 the town held a protest meeting
in response to Crandall’s school. In 1833, women did not vote, hold
public office, or speak at public meetings. Therefore, Crandall
enlisted Samuel Joseph May, a Unitarian minister from a nearby town,
and Arnold Buffum, an abolitionist lecturer, to represent her at the
meeting. The three decided that they would offer to relocate the
school further away from the center of town if someone would buy
Crandell’s home, where she conducted the boarding school. Although
they tried, the men were not allowed to speak at the meeting on the
grounds that they did not live in the town of Canterbury. The town
voted to protest the school. May (who was kin to future writer Louisa
May Alcott) waited until the meeting was adjourned to make his speech.
Some of the people stopped to listen. However his efforts were
thwarted when one of the prominent townspeople ordered everyone out of
the building.
The first week in April, 1833, Crandall began
admitting students. She taught the girls advanced grammar, math and
science so that they would one day be able to teach other African
Americans. Inside the school, the girls enjoyed the peaceful activities
of lectures and study but when they ventured outside they were met with
threats and violence. The townspeople jeered rude comments at the
girls and threw stones, eggs, and manure at them. Most of the
shopkeepers refused to sell Crandall the goods she needed to run the
school; she was forced to have her supplies shipped in. The
Congregational church refused to allow her students to attend services,
while other townspeople contaminated the water in her well.
Despite the hardships she faced, Crandall had
many admirers and became known throughout the country and the world for
her courage. Crandall received letters and gifts from American
abolitionists and even from supporters as far away as Scotland,
praising her brave actions.
Within months, the town of Canterbury led the
legislature in passing the “Black Law,” which made it illegal to open a
school or academy that taught African American students from a state
other than Connecticut. Crandall was arrested and jailed for providing
education to African Americans under this law. The first trial ended
in a hung jury – with all jurors, of course, being male – but was
convicted in the second trial. A higher court reversed the decision,
but on a technicality, not on principle, and angry townspeople
continued to harass Crandall and her students. They threw stones,
eggs, and mud at the schoolhouse and attempted to light it on fire. On
the night of September 9, 1834, the townspeople made one last attempt
to drive the schoolhouse to close by breaking most of the windows and
smashing furniture in an angry mob attack. Although she had won her
legal battle, Crandall feared for her students’ safety and decided to
close the school.
Only a month before, Crandall had married a
Baptist minister and fellow abolitionist, Calvin Philleo, who had three
children from an earlier marriage. After the school closed, the
couple put the house up for sale and in the spring of 1835, left
Connecticut for good. The family moved in with her parents briefly
and then moved to Philleo’s farm in New York. From there, they moved on
to Illinois, where her family owned land in LaSalle County. There,
she continued to teach and ran a school from her home. She also
participated in women’s rights activities, making speeches for the
suffrage movement and for tolerance. In 1865, they moved to the Rock
Island area, but the family was in constant financial stress; Philleo
suffered from mental illness from the 1840s on to his 1874 death.
Prudence Crandall Philleo then moved to Elk
Falls, Kansas to live with her brother. In 1884, a man named George
Thayer wrote a book chronicling his bicycle journey across the nation.
During his travels, Thayer paid a visit to the famous Prudance
Crandall and wrote of this interview in his book. In 1886, the
Connecticut legislature awarded a pension to her. One hundred and
twelve citizens of Canterbury had signed a petition requesting the
pension and said they were ashamed of their actions and how they had
treated Prudence Crandall. Mark Twain, then a resident of Hartford,
Connecticut, even attempted to persuade the people to buy back
Crandall’s original home. Crandall was pleased with these actions made
on her behalf and continued to give lectures on topics of social
justice. On January 28, 1890, Prudence Crandall died and was buried in
Elk Falls cemetery.
Prudence Crandall is remembered by many for her great influence on
abolition and the education of African Americans. Crandall’s old
schoolhouse in Canterbury is now the home of the Prudence Crandall
museum and she was named Connecticut’s state heroine.
Additional Resources:
Web Sites:
- Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
- The Prudence Crandall Museum
- Letters & Documents relating to Prudence Crandall
Primary Sources:
- Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III, 1886.
- May, Samuel J. Some Recollections of Our Antislavery Conflict, 1869.
- William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879: The Story of His Life Told By His Children, 1885.
- Contemporary newspaper coverage in The Liberator and the Boston-based Colonizationist during 1833-34.
Secondary
Books:
- Jurmain, Suzanne. The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.
- Strane, Susan. A Whole-Souled Woman: Prudence Crandall and the Education of Black Women. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1990.
- Thayer, George B. Pedal and Path: Across the Continent Awheel and Afoot. Hartford, Conn.: Case, Lockwood & Brainard, n.d.
- Welch, Marvis Olive. Prudence Crandall: A Biography. Manchester, CT: Jason Publisher, 1984.
Works Cited:
- Connecticut Hall of Fame. http://www.cwhf.org/hall/crandall/crandall.htm 2 August 2006.
- Jurmain, Suzanne. The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.
- Strane, Susan. A Whole-Souled Woman: Prudence Crandall and the Education of Black Women. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1990.
Biography written by NWHM 2006 Summer Intern Albrey Diece
