Alexander
Crummell was born in New York City in
1819. His father was a slave
but his
mother had been free for several generations. He was educated at the
African Free School in the city before continuing his studies at the
Hayes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire. He also spent time at the
Onedia Institute.
He
studied for ordination in Boston. He also
worked as a lay missionary in Rhode Island before being ordained as
a priest by the Episcopal Bishop of Delaware. In 1844 he established
a small mission in Philadelphia.
He soon became involved in politics. This included the campaign for
equal suffrage and the abolition of slavery.
In
1847 Crummell, accompanied by his wife and four children, moved to
England. He gave sermons and lectures on slavery in the United
States. In 1853 Crummell was awarded a degree from Queen's
College, Cambridge. Later that year
he moved to Liberia where he became a missionary-educator.
During
the American Civil War Crummell made
tours of the United States giving talks trying to persuade skilled
and educated Afro-Americans to resettle in Africa.
Crummell
was a black nationalist and held Pan-Africanist views. This made him
unpopular with mulattos and white missionaries. In 1873 he decided
to return with his family to the United States. He settled in Washington
where he became "Missionary-at-Large".
Crummell
continued to campaign for a wide variety of issues. In 1897 he was
an important figure in the establishment of the American Negro Academy.
Alexander
Crummell
died in 1898.
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