CHARTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR COLORED YOUTH: WITH THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MANAGERS, &c. FOR 1843

[African Americana]

Verlag: Joseph and William Kite, Printers, Philadelphia, 1844

12pp. Original printed yellow wrappers. Wrappers a bit soiled and stained, soft vertical crease throughout. Lightly tanned. Very good. A very rare pamphlet printing the charter and annual report for Philadelphia's Institute for Colored Youth, credited as the first college for African Americans in the United States. The school was founded in accordance with the will of Richard Humphreys, a silversmith and member of the Society of Friends in Philadelphia. Though born to a wealthy slaveholding family on the island of Tortola, Humphreys joined with many other American Friends and became an abolitionist, and the Cincinnati race riots of 1829 inspired him to take a particular interest in the challenges facing free Blacks. In his will, he left one tenth of his considerable estate for the establishment of an "African Institute," quoted extensively in this charter: "Whereas, Richard Humphreys, a citizen of Philadelphia, died in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, bequeathing the sum of 'Ten thousand dollars in trust, to be paid over to such benevolent society or institution as might be established, having for its object the benevolent design of instructing the descendants of the African race in school learning, in the various branches of the mechanic arts and trades, and in agriculture; in order to prepare, and fit, and qualify them to act as teachers in such branches of business, as in the judgment of said society they may appear best qualified for.'" His bequeathal also stipulated that the school should be located in or "not far from" Philadelphia, and be managed only by Quakers from the city. This pamphlet, the first such published for the school, prints the institute's charter, by-laws, and annual report for 1843, a few years after commencing operations in 1837. The charter and by-laws describe the organization of the corporation under a group of twelve Managers (including members of the prominent Wister and Biddle families) and procedures for their meetings. The annual report, written by secretary Caspar Wister, notes the progress of the institution. "Notwithstanding we are fully sensible that much remains to be done before the object is attained contemplated by the benevolent founder of the school," the Managers are pleased to report that enrollment has grown from ten to fourteen, the school's farm is productive, and the students have proven skilled in knitting, sewing, and the manufacture of corn brooms. Plans are proposed to construct a mill on the river to study "grinding, sawing, turning, etc.", and a substantial new bequeathal of over $18,000 will be soon to hand from the estate of one Jonathan Zane. The list of subscribers to the corporation which closes the pamphlet is a veritable who's who of Philadelphia's most influential families in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. OCLC records only two copies, at Cornell University and at Earlham College's Lilly Library. A rare and foundational document for the earliest historically Black college in the United States. OCLC 64748956. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers WRCAM62999

Bibliografische Details

Titel: CHARTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR COLORED YOUTH: ...
Verlag: Joseph and William Kite, Printers, Philadelphia
Erscheinungsdatum: 1844