The Muse Newsletter of the Slater Memorial Museum Winter 2009

John Fox Slater: An American Legacy appointed to create school districts, had increased By Vivian F. Zoë the number of teachers and schools. The town’s leadership was dedicated to the goal of American Industrialist establishing a classical program. In 1770 they formed an association, which improved their In 2009, the National Association for the resources, making it possible to erect a large brick Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will schoolhouse and to recruit more qualified teachers. mark 100 years since its founding: to recognize the centennial, the Norwich Chapter will honor the life Through a 1776 bequest from Isaac Coit, the and work of John Fox Slater. John F. Slater (1815- proponents of education in Plainfield organized 1884) was the son of John Slater, Samuel Slater’s a classical department in 1778. Because coastal brother and partner. Samuel is broadly recognized towns were subject to British invasion, colleges as the man who brought the Industrial Revolution to and academies had been generally suspended the U.S. by creating the first American textile mill during the Revolutionary War. However, the more th in the 18 century. He developed several mills and remote and inland, Plainfield offered a safe refuge. “Mill Villages” in Rhode Island and his nephew, Many promising boys from affluent families in the John Fox Slater, helped to bring that industry west immediate region, as well as students from distant to Norwich and Jewett City. states, were sent to Plainfield Academy where they boarded with local families. John F. Slater, born in Slatersville, Rhode Island, was educated in Plainfield, Connecticut and later, In 1825 a new handsome stone building replaced at Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts. The the first academy building. Attendance for many first recorded public provision for the Plainfield, years held at about a hundred students of whom Connecticut, nearly one-half pursued classical studies. In schools was later years, attendance diminished as a direct made in result of the institution of new high schools 1707, and in in adjoining towns, including Norwich Free 1722, the first Academy. Plainfield’s attendance in 1845 was schoolhouse about 75: by 1860, after NFA’s founding in 1854, was built. Plainfield’s attendance had dropped to about 50. By 1766 a committee, Wilbraham & Monson Academy was established John F. Slater by the merger of two early nineteenth-century (1815-1884), academies: Monson Academy, founded in 1804, in Alexander Monson, Massachusetts, and Wesleyan Academy, Emmons, n.d. (Continued on page 3) A Message from the Director With Winter truly upon us and the holidays breathing their rushed winds, the Slater is as busy as ever. Our McCloy Exhibition and Sale has been immensely successful, but because he was so prolific and generous, there is still a chance to find just the right piece for your wall or that special gift. As we hurtle toward 2009, the Slater has been asked to help the NAACP celebrate its centennial with an exhibition of artwork inspired by the life and work of John Fox Slater. We consider this both a great honor and an opportunity to learn more about the man ourselves. This lead to my ruminations on what might have driven the elder Slater to make a gift of $1 million in 1882, just two years before his death to ensure the education of Black students for generations to come. It’s been a pleasure to investigate this fascinating topic. I hope you enjoy the result. I wish you the best in the coming year.

Upcoming Exhibitions, Programs and Events January 16 - January 30, 2009 John Fox Slater and Historical Black Colleges: Giving for Reception: January 16 Equity - an exhibition of artwork and research by area high 2:00 - 4:00 pm school students. Dr. Lenwood G. Davis, Winston-Salem State University (ret.) will speak and sign his books, including I Have a Dream: The Life and Times of Martin Luther King, Jr. Presented in conjunction with the Norwich Chapter of the NAACP. Sunday, February 22, 2009 65th Annual Connecticut Artist Juried Exhibition Opening Reception: 1:00 - 3:00 pm Reception and Award Ceremony Awards: 2:00 pm

The Muse is published up to four times yearly for the members of The Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum. The museum is located at 108 Crescent Street, Norwich, CT 06360. It is part of The Norwich Free Academy, 305 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360. Museum main telephone number: (860) 887-2506. Visit us on the web at www.slatermuseum.org. Museum Director – Vivian F. Zoë Newsletter editor – Geoff Serra Contributing authors: Vivian Zoë, Leigh Smead and Patricia Flahive Photographers: Leigh Smead, Vivian Zoë

The president of the Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum: Patricia Flahive

The Norwich Free Academy Board of Trustees: Steven L. Bokoff ’72, Chair Jeremy D. Booty ‘74 Richard DesRoches * Abby I. Dolliver ‘71 Lee-Ann Gomes ‘82, Treasurer Thomas M. Griffin ‘70, Secretary Thomas Hammond ‘75 Theodore N. Phillips ’74 Robert A. Staley ’68 Dr. Mark E. Tramontozzi ’76 David A. Whitehead ’78, Vice Chair *Museum collections committee

The Norwich Free Academy does not discriminate in its educational programs, services or employment on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, color, handicapping condition, age, marital status or sexual orientation. This is in accordance with Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and other civil rights or discrimination issues; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991. 2 (Continued from page 1)

John Fox Slater died in Norwich in May 1884, at a time when NFA had on its “campus” only one building – its original. William presented Slater Memorial Hall to the Academy to memorialize his father.

In 1882 John Fox Slater incorporated the John F. Slater Fund with $1,000,000 of his own money, for “the uplifting of the lately emancipated population of the Southern states, and their posterity, by conferring on them the benefits of Christian education.” The original trustees of the Slater Fund included William A. Slater Wilbraham Academy in the 19th century, courtesy of and Rutherford B. Hayes, who had recently completed Wilbraham & Monson Academy his service as U.S. President. Hayes had vetoed bills founded in 1817, in New Market, New Hampshire. repealing civil rights enforcement four times before Wesleyan Academy moved to Wilbraham in 1825, finally signing one that satisfied his requirement for and became Wilbraham Academy in 1912. Wilbraham black civil rights for former slaves and free African Academy and Monson Academy merged in 1971. Americans. Wesleyan Academy was the first coeducational boarding school in the country, and in 1847 Monson Academy Also recruited to serve on the Fund’s board were became the first American school to enroll Chinese Lyme, Connecticut, Native and Chief Justice of the U. students. Soon afterward, students from Thailand began S. Supreme Court, Morrison R. Waite, and Hartford to attend Wilbraham Academy. Alumni Memorial Chapel Native, William E. Dodge, a founder of Phelps, Dodge & on Wilbraham’s campus was part of the Underground Company. Phelps, Dodge initially operated an import- Railroad, and the Academy began to enroll students of export trade business shipping American-grown cotton color before the Civil War. to England in exchange for minerals but later became a powerhouse mining company. Mr. Slater. no doubt, After graduation from Wilbraham, at seventeen John had become acquainted with Dodge as a result of his F. Slater entered the family business in Hopeville, company’s use of shipping and its connection to cotton Connecticut, taking charge in 1836. Like his father and production in the South. Mr. Slater’s company, J & W. th Uncle, he owned textile mills in partnership with his Slater, throughout the 19 century had been brokering brother, William S. Slater. In 1873, his brother took over the shipment of cotton from the South to the North and, the Slatersville Mills, and he assumed sole ownership of presumably, to England. When Dodge died, his son, the mills at Jewett City. William E. Dodge, Jr., took his place and they were both succeeded on the board by Dodge’s grandson Cleveland American Philanthropist H. Dodge. Like Dodge, another abolitionist and member In 1842 John Fox Slater moved to Norwich and helped of the board was Episcopal Priest Phillips Brooks, a to endow and found the Norwich Free Academy (NFA). great-great grandson of Perhaps this philanthropy was spurred by fond memories the founder of Phillips of his days at Wilbraham or by enlightened self-interest. Andover Academy. His son, William Albert Slater (1857-1919), who was Also joining the board barely a toddler when NFA opened its doors, would was Norwich native soon need a fine education. Indeed, William would go Daniel C. Gilman, who from NFA to Harvard in 1873. in 1875 became the first president of Johns It is also interesting to note that like John F. Slater’s Hopkins University. alma mater, Wilbraham Academy, in the 1870’s through Morris K. Jesup, a self- 1881, NFA was host to Chinese Students through the made man who took an Qing Dynasty’s Chinese Educational Mission led by active interest in the Yale-educated Yung Wing. It was during these years that welfare of young men John Fox Slater, having relinquished the management of Rutherford B. Hayes his mills to son William, may have formulated his ideas (1822 - 1893) about a philanthropic legacy. 3 and contributed generously to Williams College and other institutions serving youth, added to the board roster.

Through prudent investment, by 1909 the fund had increased to more than $1,500,000, despite issuing disbursements. The fund has been of immeasurable assistance to the “historically Black colleges” which in many cases grew out of industrial schools in the South. In some cases the Slater Fund contributed directly to the school boards of Southern cities. The Fund’s largest beneficiaries were the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute of Virginia, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute of , Spelman Seminary in Georgia, , South Carolina, and in Tennessee. “Normal” schools were so named because they purported to establish “norms” or Emancipation Oak, Hampton VA standards for teaching; their purpose was to train teachers mulattos to read or write, a law which had cut her own for the country’s public schools. The Slater Normal and education short years earlier. Several years later, President Industrial school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, ’s Emancipation Proclamation was read founded in 1892 and named after John Fox Slater, has to local freedmen under the same historic tree, still located become the Winston Salem State University. on the campus and which also serves as a symbol of the modern City of Hampton. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in southeastern Virginia became and remains today, . Former Union Brigadier General Samuel L Armstrong was During the Civil War, Union held at the Hampton’s first principal. Under his guidance, a Hampton mouth of the Hampton Roads became a haven for fugitive education became renowned as one combining “cultural slaves. Fort commander General Benjamin F. Butler, to uplift with moral and manual training.” Among Hampton’s protect them from return to slave owners, deemed them earliest students was Booker Taliaferro Washington, who “contraband of war.” As large numbers arrived seeking arrived from West Virginia in 1872 at the age of 16. He status as contrabands, they built the Grand Contraband was freed from slavery as a child and through education, Camp nearby from materials reclaimed from the ruins rose to be appointed, on Armstrong’s recommendation, to of Hampton, which had been burned by retreating lead another new normal school, which eventually became Confederates. the Tuskegee Institute, also a beneficiary of the John F. Slater Fund. Washington became an educator, orator, In Hampton, Virginia, under what is now called the fund-raiser, nationally prominent spokesman and leader Emancipation Oak, on September 17, 1861, Mary for . He was successful in building Smith Peake (1823-1862), the mulatto daughter of a relationships with Slater and other philanthropists who free black woman, taught the first classes, in defiance of contributed to Tuskegee and for Southern public schools a Virginia law against teaching slaves, free blacks and for black children. He worked to end legal barriers to desegregation and disenfranchisement and built Tuskegee into a substantial school.

In 1881, Lewis Adams, founded the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Mary Smith Peale (1823-1862) History Class at Tuskegee, 1901 4 (Continued on page 7) Friends of Slater Museum Active Members as of November 2008

Please note: We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this list. If we inadvertently omitted your name, we apologize. Please let us know by calling 860-425-5563.

LIFE MEMBERS Anne J. Sharpe William Champagne Karen & Douglas Welch Helen & Gurdon Slosberg Sue & Walter Chojnacki Marianna Wilcox Dr. Sultan Ahamed Richard G. Treadway, Sr. Mr. & Mrs. Richard R. Ron Aliano Dr. & Mrs.* Felix T. Trommer Clairwood INDIVIDUALS Nina Barclay John A. Wolkowski Dr. Robert & Linda Crootof Dr. June Bradlaw * Carol A. Adams Richard DesRoches Kathleen Driscoll Robert Allyn Brand CONTRIBUTORS Mr. & Mrs. William Dolliver Valerie K. Foran Carter Amatangelo Dr. & Mrs. Donald Amaro Frances J. Donnelly Valerie Andrews Mr. & Mrs. Leo Christmas Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Mary Jane & Charles M. Dr. & Mrs. Tom P. Bell Elizabeth Baldwin Cora Lee Boulware Donovan Bernard B. Bartick Gilman Nancy & James J. Dutton, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Gualtieri Mr. & Mrs. Alton P. Button William E. Bartol John Carter M. Torrey & David G. Fenton Mara G. Beckwith Mr. & Mrs. David R. Hinkle Caroleen Frey & Gordon Kyle Mr. & Mrs. Wally Lamb Barbara Castagnaro Eric Beit Dr. Larry & Elaine Coletti Jean M. & Evan Gilman Mr. & Mrs. Steven Bokoff Sheldon & Marcelle Levine Cyrus D. Gilman Edwin O. Lomerson III Paul R. Duevel Jean Brown Dr. & Mrs. Malcolm Edgar, Jr. Lee Ann Gomes & Curtis Hazel Brown Stanley M. Lucas Simmons David H. & Cathy Meiklem Marcia & Richard Erickson Frank Buckley George T. Finn Dr. & Mrs. Albert Gosselin Olive J. Buddington Jonathan S. Rickard Katherine & Richard Haffey Grace Sears * John R. Fix Jeffrey Buebendorf Patricia & John & Flahive Richard C. Hamar Kathy Burley Jean Stencel Rachel & Thomas Celine Sullivan Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Lois Burnham Gallagher Harasimowicz Brad Burns Sheila K. Tabakoff Gladys L. Haynes Elizabeth A. Theve Jeffrey R. Godley Foster Caddell Dr. Leonard & Joan E. Greene Donna L. & Michael E. Jewell Connie Capacchione Dr. Patricia C. Thevenet Suzanne & Norman Jordan, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Anthony Muriel B. Jacobson Jacqueline Caron Dr. Morris E. Katz Drs. M. E. & Joan Kadish Laurie Chapman Tramontozzi Carol H. Kelleher Paul Zimmerman * Ruth S. Kirsch James Clark Melody & Donald Leary Lisa Kanter & Eugene Thomas E. Clements, Jr. BENEFACTORS Deborah Lee Schweig Michael Colonese George Lee, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Charles L. Kroll Barbara Cordell Louis Burzycki Frank T. Novack Ann & Arthur Lathrop Caroline Couture Shirley M. Sontheimer Rev. & Mrs. John E. Post Mr. &. Mrs. Timothy Love Kathleen Cummings SUSTAINORS Evelyn Putman Agnes & John E. Luby Jeremy Davis John M. Rogers, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Franklin May Sadie Davidson DeVore Mr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Elizabeth D. Sager Nancy & John Paul Mereen Nancy DiTullio Cummings Mrs. Lawrence V. Sarni Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Methot Christina Dominijanni Mr. & Mrs. Martin Shapiro Lottie B. Scott Michael E. Minzy Gerard Doudera Marie E. & Charles F. Noyes PATRONS Elizabeth & Geoffery Serra Michael Driscoll Mr. & Mrs. William B. White Dr. & Mrs. Michael T. Phillips Geraldine Exley Elizabeth & William J. Abell Sheryl & Nathan Wolfman Mr. & Mrs. Popinchalk Thomas M. Foley, Jr. Helen M. Champe Joseph R. Wolter Mr. & Mrs. Paul Rak Joanne Forson Carol B. Connor W. Wynn Riley Susan Frankenbach Dr. Wayne F. & Geraldine O. FAMILIES Dr. J. David & Chris Sawyer Larry Goldman Diederich Dr. & Mrs. Michael Betten Marian & Jerome Silverstein Nancy L. Gordon John Frazer Barbara & Ralph Bergman Mary Jo & John Sisco Deborah A. Griffith Mary Fuller Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Blinderman Mr. & Mrs. Steven Slosberg Sandra Grillo Karin & Laurent T. Genard, Jr. Sandra Ann Bosko Dr. & Mrs. Harold A. Soloff Mary-Anne Hall Margot & Denison N. Gibbs Corinna & J. Steele Brown Michele & Harvey Snitkin Lloyd Hinchey Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Isenberg Mr. & Mrs. Michael Brown Susan Spak Margot Johnstone Carol & Michael Lahan Dr. & Mrs. S. Pearce Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Stockton Bernadette Kalinowski Mildred P. Lescoe Browning III Selma & Harry Swatsburg Christine Karpinski Gigi H. & Arthur Liverant Rosemary & Paul Brulotte Mr. & Mrs. Richard Uguccioni Merrill Keeley Mr. & Mrs. Martin Rutchik Joanna Case & Les Olin Liz Van & John Pratt D. William Kelleher Mr. & Mrs. Gary Schnip George Ververis Carol H. Kelleher 5 Elizabeth H. Kelly Xenia & Kenneth Diane A. Norman Joseph L. Torchia Brian W. Korsu Bujnowski Frances Ogulnick Burriss G. Wilson Elin B. Larson Colette Butterick Sara O’Hearn Tekla Wirhun Elyssa Lathrop Raymond I. Champy Sarah B. Palmer Barbara L. & Donald L. Benjamin Lathrop Carol A. Cieslukowski Anne Bingham Pierson, M.D. Zuccardy Kathleen Lavallee Mr. & Mrs. James Coleman Rev. Dr. Wayne D. Pokorny Dr. Leonard Zuckerbraun Nancy MacBride Dr. Thomas J. Cook Nancy Davis Pratviel Janet MacKay Wanda Cornell Jacqueline Princevalle STUDENTS Katherine H. Mann David A. Corsini Elaine Prokesch Joseph Dellaquila J. Roger Marien Roger Crossgrove Edward Rogalski Blaney W. Harris Julian P. Metzger Marilyn Cruthers Betty A. Rokowski Bushra F. Karim Jessie Michalowski Alice E. Cubanski Robert Saunders Erika Lamb Brian Mignault Joseph J. Czapski Leo P. Savoie Deirdre Lucas Patricia Miller Maurica D’Aquila Gloria Sessions William J. Miller Eleanor J. Miller Sara G. Dembrow Carolyn Shattuck Rebecca Sajkowicz Mitchell Mishkin Hannah Desio Paul E. Shelley Mary R. Miskiewicz Janice Dibattista-Allen Matthew M. Sheridan Mildred Savage Karen Rand Mitchell Ms. H. Jane Dibble Alberta Sherman Shih-Po Sun Warren Mocek Nancy E. Dubin Mariea D. Spencer Teresa L. Winter Gary Palmer Harriet K. & Frank M. Poul Sterregaard * Deceased Elizabeth Pite Falcone Elaine Sylvia Patricia Podurgiel John & Marianna Fells Manisha Prakash Margaret Francis Kenneth Przybysz Florence & Eugene H. Frank Ilene Reiner Anita Friedland A New Exhibition of Photographs to be Katherine B. Richardson Jack Friedstein Unveiled at Otis Library Charles Rossoll Lester Frye Joseph Ruffo Diana Gill James Sawyer Beverly S. Gordon An exhibition of black and white photographs of Bett Schissler Rhoda Gorfain members of the Mohegan tribe, which date from the Katherine E. Schmitt Albert Gualtieri late 19th to early 20th centuries, will be exhibited at Elizabeth Hundt Scott Ruth D. Gunn the Otis Library Community Room beginning De- Will Sikorski Donald G. Gunn cember 11, 2008. Duplicates of the original pho- Robert Staley Antoinette F. Gwiazdowski Sean Sullivan Sara Haroun tographs were initially purchased by the Slater Me- Wilma Sullivan Luciana Heineman morial Museum in the 1980’s from the Museum of Barbara Sumner Florence L. Hill the American Indian, Heye Foundation in New York John A. Tarka Margie Hnatiuk City. The original collection is now housed in the Matt Turpin Joan T. & William J. Hoyle Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. The pho- Michele Gill Tycz Olive D. Isakson Rachna Walia Careen Jennings tographs include early images of Courtland Fowler, Charlie Whitty Dorothy Bosch Keller who was once Suzanne Wierzbinski Maryann Kouyoumjian the chairman Mary Wilson Assunta D’Elia Kozel of the Mo- Joy S. Leary hegan Trib- SENIORS Valerie J. Leger al Council, Mr. & Mrs. Gary Adams Agnes B. Lotring Margaret M. Aldrich Erna Luering members of Kathleen Arnold Alexandra Malone the Tantaquid- Lindsay Aromin Charlotte Mariani geon family Priscilla & David W. Baillie Emily Markiewicz and other lu- Maureen C. Martin Genevieve Bergendahl minaries of the Elaine Berman Dr. Thomas J. Masterson Mary Ann Biziewski Helen M. McGuire tribe. Douglas Bjorn Darlene McNaughton Mr. & Mrs. Rufus Blanshard Patricia Mereen John Quidgeon, Mr. & Mrs. Armand Bouley Josephine & John Merrill photo taken by Angelo B. Brocchi Mr. & Mrs. Robert Mohr Frank Speck, Barbara Brown Nancy L. Neiman-Hoffman 1915 Julie C. Buehler Pam J. Nelson 6 (Continued from page 4) Dr. Washington used Tuskegee to develop a network of wealthy philanthropists including Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and John Fox Slater. On the one hand, Washington was criticized for including manual training and work in Tuskegee’s curriculum. On the other, he used his wealthy patrons to covertly fund and arrange legal representation in legal opposition to disenfranchising provisions of state constitutions. In 1915, Washington died at 59 of congestive heart failure, purportedly aggravated by overwork. At his death, Tuskegee’s endowment exceeded $1.5 million.

In 1881 Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles founded Hampton Bricklaying Class, 1899 as ’s Baptist Female Seminary. Teachers, which later became Tuskegee Institute and then The school’s classes first assembled in the basement of , with the mission of educating a Friendship Baptist Church. By 1882, two more teachers newly freed people for self-sufficiency. One of the most commissioned by the Woman’s American Baptist Home famous teachers at Tuskegee was George Washington Mission Society joined the “basement school.” In 1883, Carver, whose name is synonymous with innovative Packard and Giles were introduced to John D. Rockefeller research into Southern farming methods and crops. who initially pledged $250, making it possible for the Tuskegee and Tuskegee Institute were also home to the school to move to wooden buildings on its present site on famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen, the first squadron nine acres and to open a “Model School” to train student of African-American pilots in the U. S. Military. teachers. Rockefeller’s initial pledge was succeeded by much more substantial support, and the school bears his The school was the dream of Adams, a former slave and wife’s maiden name. Her parents had been long time George W. Campbell, a former slave owner. Adams could anti-slavery activists, and she had been educated in the read, write and speak several languages despite having Quaker tradition. no formal education. He was an experienced tinsmith, harness- and shoe-maker. He was especially concerned In 1884, the college’s name was changed to Spelman that, without an education, recently freed slaves would Seminary in honor of abolitionists Laura Spelman not be able to support themselves. Campbell had Rockefeller and her parents, Harvey Buel and Lucy Henry become a merchant and a banker and though he had little Spelman. In 1887, the first group of graduates received experience with educational institutions, he had ideas high school diplomas. It was not until 1885 that Spelman similar to Adams’. engaged Sophia Jones, M.D., the first black female to join the faculty, and shortly thereafter, its nurse-training Through astute politicking, Adams was able to secure department was established. By 1888, Spelman was African American votes in exchange for legislation incorporated under a Board of Trustees and was chartered authorizing funds for Tuskegee Normal School. Adams, by the State of Thomas Dyer, and M.B. Swanson formed Tuskegee’s Georgia with Henry first board of commissioners. They wrote to Hampton L. Morehouse Institute, asking for a recommendation for to head their as its first Board new school, and, although whites had always held such president. positions, 25-year-old Booker T. Washington was named to the post. Dr. Simon Green Atkins (1863-1934) Under Washington’s leadership, the new normal school was the founder opened on July 4, 1881, in space borrowed from a church. and first president The following year, Washington bought the grounds of a of the Slater former plantation, on which the campus is still located. Industrial Institute. Students, many of whom earned all or part of their expenses Atkins was born by working on campus, constructed the buildings. The Booker T. school was a living example of Washington’s dedication Washington to the concept of self-reliance. (1856-1915) 57 Slater Industrial Academy and State Normal School began planning for a hospital and training program for nurses in 1899. It was dedicated on May 14, 1902, as a part of Slater Industrial Academy’s ninth commencement program.

In addition to funding educational institutions, the John F. Slater Fund contributed the resources Top Image: Junior Farm Management, Tuskegee Normal Dr. Simon Green Atkins, for scholarship and School, 1940 (1863-1934) publication in the field in Haywood, North Carolina, to farmers and former of social research that was intended to create slaves, two years before the ending of legalized slavery. educational opportunities for African Americans. An An excellent student, he exhibited an early passion for introduction to one such piece explains “These reports education. After a short time as a teacher, Atkins enrolled published by the John F. Slater Fund and written by the at St. Augustine’s Normal Collegiate Institute in Raleigh geographer Henry Gannett offer valuable information in 1880 and following graduation returned to Haywood on the social and economic status of Southern African to teach. Recognizing Atkins’ aptitude and competence Americans on the eve of the twentieth century. The as a teacher, the President of Livingstone College in fund’s trustees sponsored papers such as these to report Salisbury, N.C., in 1884 invited him to lead the College’s on developments in the region.” grammar school department. One such publication was Statistics of the Negroes in In 1890 the city of Winston offered Atkins the job of the by Henry Gannett (Baltimore, 1894). principal at the Depot Street School. In addition to his Considered the Father of Government Mapmaking, work as teacher and administrator, Atkins worked to Gannett was Chief Geographer for the U. S. Geological start a college for African-Americans and to develop Survey and later for the U.S. Census. The book was the community of Columbian Heights. Slater Industrial described at the time as “A brief, lean, but detailed Academy later became Slater Industrial and Normal statistical history of the slave trade and diaspora of School (1895), Winston-Salem Teachers College (1925), African Americans. Winston-Salem State College (1963), and after 1972, Winston-Salem State University. Under the heading “Illiteracy and Education,” Gannett asserts, “Of the progress of the negro race in education, From 1904 to 1911, Atkins served as Secretary of the statistics are by no means as full and comprehensive as Education for the African American Episcopal Zion is desirable. Such as we possess, however, go to indicate Church and was church secretary for twenty years. He a remarkably rapid progress of the race in the elements traveled extensively throughout the United States and of education. During the prevalence of slavery this race represented the AME Zion Church at international was kept in ignorance. Indeed, generally throughout ecumenical conferences in London (1901 and 1921) and Toronto (1911). Atkins was married in 1889 to Oleona Pegram of New Bern, North Carolina, and they had nine children, one of whom, Francis L. Atkins, succeeded his father as President of Winston-Salem Teachers College in 1934.

Simon Green Atkins also developed Slater Hospital, the first hospital for African-Americans residing in Winston- Salem. Because obtaining adequate health care was difficult for African-Americans in the Jim Crow era, Slater Industrial and Normal School Graduates, 1891 86 the south it was held as a crime to teach the negroes to We may never know what drove him, but his legacy read and write, and naturally when they became freemen lives on, having produced and producing today, scholars only a trifling proportion of them were acquainted with and leaders who still must overcome huge obstacles these elements of education. In 1870, five years after to becoming educated and reach their fullest potential. they became free, the records of the census show that Looking beyond the obvious familial affection, one can only two-tenths of all the negroes over ten years of age see why John Fox Slater would be honored by William in the country could write. Ten years later the proportion A. Slater and by NFA with a building named for him. It had increased to three-tenths of the whole number, and is easy to understand why the Norwich Chapter of the in 1890, only a generation after they were emancipated, NAACP has chosen to honor John Fox Slater during its not less than 43 out of every hundred negroes, of ten centennial celebrations. Today, NFA stands as a paean to years of age and over, were able to read and write. These the value of education as a universal equalizer and Slater figures show a remarkably rapid progress in elementary Memorial Hall, a tribute to John Fox Slater. education.” Sources consulted: Gannett continues, “In 1860 the number of negroes who ______”College and University Endowments Over were enrolled in the schools of the south was absolutely $250-Million, 2007,” Chronicle trifling. Since the abolition of slavery the number has of Higher Education, 28. increased with the greatest rapidity. …. The proportion ______National Park Service “Hampton Institute” of negro school children increased at a far more rapid National Historic Landmark rate than that of the white school children …Only one Summary Listing, Inventory, 11/4/08. generation has elapsed since the slaves were freed. To Bayles, Richard M. History of Windham County, Connecticut, New York: W.W. Preston, raise a people from slavery to civilization is a matter, not 1889. of years, but of many generations. The progress which Hadley, Wade; Horton, Doris, and Strowd, Nell. Chatham the race has made in this generation in industry, morality, County: 1771- and education is a source of the highest gratification to all 1971, 1971. friends of the race, to all excepting those who expected a “Hampton University Admissions,” available: www. miraculous conversion” hamptonu.edu .11/4/08. Henry, Philip, Speas, Carol, Eds. The Heritage of Blacks in Certainly, John Fox Slater’s money and influence had North Carolina, Vol. I, 1990. a part in this rapid progress. What inspired John Fox Franklin, Fabian The Life of Daniel Coit Gilman, New York: Slater, close to the end of his life, to pour a million Dodd, Mead and Company, dollars into researching and educating freed slaves and 1910. their descendants? Certainly there were needs “at home” Lamb, Robert W. Editor, Our Twin Cities of the Nineteenth in Norwich. Could he have had the prescience to see Century: Norfolk and Portsmouth, Their Past, Present and that education would not only raise a single people, but Future, Norfolk, VA: Barcroft, their neighbors as well? Did he anticipate that streams . 1887–8 of former slaves and their families would head to the Powell, William S. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, industrialized North to work in the mills and factories? Or Chapel Hill: University of was it guilt over the years he and his family enjoyed the North Carolina Press, 1979. proceeds from their toil in the cotton fields of the South? Rettig. Polly M. and Bradford, S. S., Daniel Coit Gilman Summer Home “Over Edge,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination: , 3/8/76. Stimpert, James. Johns Hopkins University, “Frequently Asked Questions,” available: http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_ about_hopkins/about_jhu/frequently_asked_ questions/index.cfm, 11/408 Forsyth County, North Carolina. “Digital Forsyth” available: http://www.digitalforsyth.org/

Slater Hospital 97 Coming soon to the Slater Museum

66TH ANNUAL CONNECTICUT ARTISTS EXHIBITION February 22 - April 2, 2009 CALL TO ARTISTS - The prospectus for the 66th Annual CT Artists Exhibition is now available online. Artists may submit work Febru- ary 7 & 8, 2009. Full details at www.slatermuseum.org

Artist Ron Cruzan will be the juror for the 66th Annual CT Artists Ex- hibition, which will feature paintings, drawings, mixed media, sculp- ture, graphics and photography by resident artists of Connecticut. All are welcome to attend the opening reception and awards ceremony Sunday, February 22, 2009 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Tibetan Boy by Christopher Zhang, 2008 Award Winner Slater Memorial Museum Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Closed to the public on Mondays and holidays

Visitors may park in designated visitor parking spaces or any empty parking place on campus. Parking is difficult between 1:30 and 2:15 p.m. during school days due to the school buses. The museum’s main telephone number is (860) 887-2506. A recording will provide information on current exhibitions, days of operation, directions, admission fees and access to staff voice mailboxes. Visit us on the web at: www.slatermuseum.org