Alphonso Sumner was an African American man who opened Nashville, Tennessee's first Black school.[1] Sumner was also a barber, a newspaper publisher, and a Northern abolitionist.[2][3]
He opened his school March 4, 1833 with about 20 students. The school grew to have a student body of around 200 by 1836.[3] The majority of the pupils were free Black children, but a few may have been enslaved. The rapid growth of the school led him to hire Daniel Wadkins be a teacher. In 1836 Sumner was nearly whipped to death by white vigilantes as he was accused in helping two runaway slaves. Soon afterward he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he worked as an abolitionist.[2]
In Cincinnati, Sumner was a publisher for the Disfranchised American, that city's first Black newspaper.[2] Frederick Douglas wrote to Sumner on December 18, 1849 in his capacity as editor, explaining that an article Sumner published had not been about him.[4]
References
edit- ^ Pentecost, Jerry. "This Black History Month, discover important Black contributions to Nashville | Opinion". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
- ^ a b c deGregory, Crystal A. (2015-02-17). "Nashville's Clandestine Black Schools". Opinionator. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
- ^ a b Wynn, Linda (2018-01-01). "Nashville and Davidson County Public Schools Names for African Americans". Profiles/Papers for the Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture.
- ^ "Frederick Douglass to Alphonso M. Sumner, December 18, 1849 · Digital Edition · Frederick Douglass Papers Project". frederickdouglasspapersproject.com. Retrieved 2024-10-05.