prudence crandall

TO ALL ON EQUAL TERMS

Prudence Crandall

Presented by Deborah Adams

"Then Let It Sink, I Will Not Dismiss Her." 2

INTRODUCTION

The presentation will contain demographics, famous and notable contributions to society, historical timeframe, and leadership traits of Prudence Crandall.

In an attempt to provide the viewer with a virtual sense of her life’s experiences; photos, books, DVD, theater, museum and other references will be provided.


INTRODUCTION ( C O N T I N U E D )

How Miss Crandall achieved revolutionary status through her actions during her era (1803-1890) is explored in this presentation.

In conclusion the viewer will have concise details about the life of Prudence Crandall and how she affected America’s women history and influenced future laws.


LIFE OF PRUDENCE

Prudence Crandall, educator and reformer born on September 3, 1803 in Hopkinton, RI

Prudence’s family were Quakers and moved to Canterbury, CT in 1813

She attended Friends’ Boarding School in Providence, RI

Prudence taught in Plainfield, CT at a school for girls

In 1831she returned to Canterbury, CT

At the age of twenty-seven-years-old Prudence was invited to start

school for upscale resident’s daughters in Canterbury.


LIFE OF PRUDENCEDaughter of free African American farmer, Sarah Harris, was accepted into the school to prepare for teaching other African Americans.

When the townspeople objected Crandall met with abolitionists in Boston, Providence and New York to establish a school for African American girls.

In February 1833, White students were dismissed; by April 20, Black students began studies.

May 24, 1833, Connecticut Legislature passed a law prohibiting schooling of out-of-state Black students. The “Black Law” as it was known was repealed 1838.


LIFE OF PRUDENCEJuly 1933, Crandall was arrested and stayed one night in jail under the newly enacted law.

Trial was held in August 1833, and Crandall was defended by lawyer hired with money from prominent abolitionist, Arthur Tappan of New York. School Supporters

The case centered on whether CT law was constitutional and if freed Blacks were citizens.

Result of the first trial was a divided jury, second trial the decision was against her.

July 1834, CT Supreme Court reversed lower courts decision on insufficient evidence not on the merits. (Conn. 339)

https://docs.google.com/a/baypath.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BynnDyub_S22Nzk4MWUzYzgtZThmOC00ZDM0LTg4ZTAtZjYyZjZhODk1ZDYz&hl=en_US


The Crandall case was essentially a fight for the privileges and immunities of African American citizens as was shaped in the Comity Clause. In that instance the privileges and immunities the state of Oregon gave to its own citizens where denied to visiting blacks. Moreover, the Comity Clause was contained in the Articles of Confederation (1781- 1789). Subsequently were the Privileges and Immunities Bill (1866), which failed, but was related to the anti-slavery Comity Clause position and led to the 14th Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities clause, which settled that the privileges and immunities owed to citizens of the U.S. under the Comity Clause were Privileges and Immunities of citizens of the United States and as such were enforceable by Congress.

Northwestern University Law Review

REVOLUTIONARYPrudence Crandall is considered an intellectual abolitionist who is especially noteworthy for her confrontation with male leaders and religious institutions. Crandall was an early pioneer like Elizabeth Heyrick, Elizabeth Chandler, and Maria Stewart during the period of 1824-1834 who forged a tradition of defending the intelligence of the enslaved by providing education for Blacks and youth and making visionary statements about women, race, and class. Crandall’s belief in intellectual equality with men and the demand for social equality and revolution were ahead of her time and created a legacy on which other female abolitionists expanded.

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 21.2 (2005)


When women led by minister’s wife, warned the school would be ruined if the black girl was not sent away. Prudence

retorted, “Then let is sink. I will not dismiss her.”

When white students threatened to leave, she advertised in The Liberator, “for young

Ladies and little Misses of color.”

REVOLUTIONARY


Fear of mixed marriages was a great anxiety of whites to which Crandall responded: “Moses had a black wife.”

Fifteen African American students, some daughters of slaves, came from Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Connecticut.

Students of Prudence Crandall 1833 - 1834

REVOLUTIONARY

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https://docs.google.com/a/baypath.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BynnDyub_S22NmU0MzNjNDQtOTM3NS00OGVmLTg4NDktODFkYzdmZDI0ZDA4&hl=en_US


Contributions• Crandall believed in

educating freed blacks.• Sarah Harris became a

teacher as did other students.

• CT, after the war, voted to give black citizens the right to vote.

• Crandall was successful in teaching her neighbors.

LEADERSHIP

Historical Timeframe• There was

sectional divide between the South and North during Pre-Civil War period (1815-1850).

• Black students being educated in a manner appropriate for upper class whites enraged people.


CONCLUSIONPrudence Crandall was an educator and reformer born in Hopkinton, R.I. Miss Crandall was of Quaker descent and daughter of Pardon and Esther Crandall. She opened an academy on Canterbury Green in Canterbury, CT located between the towns of Scotland and Plainfield off 395 (CT Turnpike) in 1831. The academy was to educate the daughters of wealthy local families and was a success until a 20 year old black woman, Sarah Harris was admitted. Sarah’s admittance led parents to withdraw their daughters. Miss Crandall then made contacts throughout New England’s free black communities to attract black women students who came from Boston, New York City and Philadelphia.

The refusal of Prudence Crandall to send black students home was an important decision during an equally important time in history. This decision made her a heroine and gives her revolutionary status.


CONCLUSIONAt the Prudence Crandall Museum DVD and Book entitled: “To All On Equal Terms” is for loan to schools.

CT State Legislature honors the courage and moral strength of Crandall for taking a stand against prejudice.

Although the school was closed within 17 months following vandalism, fire, refusal to sell food, and medical boycotts. The school and its history is still preserved through the Museum, CT Historical Society, CT State Library, and UConn’s Repertory Theater who hosted a play in February 2006. The play is called Prudence. (Still picture on left)

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CONCLUSIONPrudence the play was created by

UConn professor, Carlton Molette and his wife Barbara, Eastern CT State University professor. The story/play Prudence is about early 19th century

school girls one side white and the other side black both sides fighting for an education. The play is said to be a personal connection to Prudence.

Prudence Crandall married a Baptist preacher and left the state. The CT

Legislature voted her an annual pension of $400 in 1886 and she died in 1890.

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REFERENCESThe State Heroine Prudence Crandall. (2002, August 5). In State of Connecticut. Retrieved January 21, 2012, from http://www.ct.gov/ctportal/cwp/view.asp?a=885&q=246502

Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. Prudence Crandall Museum. In . (Ed.). Retrieved January 11, 2012

Prudence Crandall. (1936). In Dictionary of American Biography. Retrieved December 30, 2011

(2006). CT; UCONN School of Fine Arts. Retrieved December 30, 2011

Collins, G. (2003). America's Women 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines (pp. 161-165). New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.


REFERENCES"Editors Introduction." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 21.2 (2005): 1-4. ProQuest Central. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.

Hamburger, Philip. "Privileges or Immunities." Northwestern University Law Review 105.1 (2011): 61-147. ProQuest Central. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.

Prudence Crandall Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2012, from www.cultureandtourism.org

Connecticut Historical Society. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2012, from www.chs.org

http://www.cultureandtourism.org/

http://www.chs.org/

prudence crandall

Education