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33-578: The American Missionary Association (AMA) opened Brewer Normal Institute in 1872 as a boarding school on East Cambridge Street. The first brick building had been built in 1847 for the former Hodges Institute. It was one of a series of schools established by the AMA during the Reconstruction era , after the American Civil War . During Brewer Normal Institute's first year, the school had only one teacher. It

66-474: A black public school. The hospital was dedicated on May 24, 1924. The following year in 1925, Brewer Normal Institute became a public school. From 1945 to 1969, Benjamin James Sanders Jr. served as the school’s principal; he had been initially hired a science teacher starting in 1928. The New York Public Library has a 1909 photograph in their archives of Brewer Normal Institute students picking cotton at

99-567: A distinct and independent identity until 1999, when a restructuring of the UCC merged it into the Justice and Witness Ministries division. Its magazine, American Missionary , was published 1846–1934, and had a circulation of 20,000 in the 19th century, ten times that of the abolitionist William Garrison 's magazine. The Cornell University Library has editions from 1878–1901 accessible online in its Making of America digital library. The records of

132-481: A mile east of the village, and he aids every fugitive that comes to his door and asks it. Thou invisible demon of slavery! Dost thou think to cross my humble threshold, and forbid me to give bread to the hungry and shelter to the houseless? I bid you defiance in the name of my God. Lovejoy was a platform speaker in support of Abraham Lincoln in the famous debates with Stephen A. Douglas . While in Congress, he "introduced

165-663: A number of the 115 anti-slavery Congregational churches in Illinois begun by the American Missionary Association , founded in 1846. His activities brought him increasing public prominence. In 1854 Lovejoy was elected a member of the Illinois State Legislature . He worked with Abraham Lincoln and others to form the Republican Party in the state, and he and Lincoln remained close friends. In 1856, he

198-715: A significant role in several key historical events and movements, including the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement. In the 1850s it assisted the operation of the Underground Railroad for men and women fleeing enslavement in the South. Starting in 1861, it opened camps in the South for former slaves. It played a major role during and after the Reconstruction Era in promoting education for blacks in

231-494: Is the doctrine of Democrats and the doctrine of devils as well, and there is no place in the universe outside the five points of hell and the Democratic Party where the practice and prevalence of such doctrines would not be a disgrace. As Lovejoy gave his speech condemning slavery, several Democrats in the audience, such as Roger Atkinson Pryor , became irate and incensed. Profoundly objecting to Lovejoy's anti-slavery remarks,

264-579: The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony (1863–1867). Located on an island occupied by Union troops, the colony was intended to be self-sustaining. It was supervised by Horace James , a Congregational chaplain appointed by the Army as "Superintendent for Negro Affairs in the North Carolina District". The first of 27 teachers who volunteered through the AMA was his cousin, Elizabeth James. By 1864

297-520: The AMA began their support of education for blacks before the Civil War. Once war had begun, they recruited teachers for the numerous contraband camps that developed in Union-occupied territory in the South. In slaveholding Union states, such as Kentucky, the AMA staffed schools for both the newly emancipated United States Colored Troops and their families, such as at Camp Nelson, now known as Camp Nelson Heritage National Monument . Leading this effort

330-569: The AMA's achievements was the founding of anti-slavery churches. For instance, the abolitionist Owen Lovejoy was among the Congregational ministers of the AMA who helped start 115 anti-slavery churches in Illinois before the American Civil War , building on the strong westward migration of population to that area. Another member, Rev. Mansfield French , an Episcopalian who became a Methodist, helped found Wilberforce University in Ohio. Members of

363-596: The American Missionary Association are housed at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans. Owen Lovejoy Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist , and Republican congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad . After his brother Elijah Lovejoy

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396-536: The Civil War. It spent more money for that purpose than did the Freedmen's Bureau of the federal government." In addition, the AMA organized the Freedmen's Aid Society , which recruited northern teachers for the schools and arranged to find housing for them in the South. In the mid-1870s, white Democrats began to regain control of state legislatures through violence and intimidation at the polls that suppressed Republican voting. The Association expressed disappointment at

429-516: The Democrats, brandishing pistols and canes, threatened him with physical harm , to which the Republicans present pledged to defend Lovejoy if the Democrats attempted to attack him. In response to the Democrats' threats, Lovejoy stood firm and responded, "I will stand where I please" and "Nobody can intimidate me." The day after the speech, it was re-printed in 55 newspapers across the country. Regarding

462-470: The South by establishing numerous schools and colleges, as well as paying for teachers. It helped establish Black churches and civic organizations. Its teachers and workers were targets of white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan . Outside the South it also promoted schools for Native Americans and immigrants. The AMA continued to play a role in the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century, supporting

495-423: The U.S. House of Representatives, Lovejoy castigated the Democrats and their racist justifications for supporting slavery, saying: The principle of enslaving human beings because they are inferior, is this. If a man is a cripple, trip him up; if he is old and weak, and bowed with the weight of years, strike him, for he cannot strike back; if idiotic, take advantage of him; and if a child, deceive him. This, sir, this

528-465: The beginning the leadership was integrated: the first board was made up of 12 men, four of them black. One of its primary objectives was to abolish slavery. The AMA (American Missionary Association) was one of the organizations responsible for pushing slavery onto the national political agenda. The organization started the American Missionary magazine, published from 1846 through 1934. Among

561-615: The cause that had been sprinkled with my brother's blood." Owen and his brother Joseph C. Lovejoy wrote Memoir of Elijah P. Lovejoy (1838), which was distributed widely by the American Anti-Slavery Society , increasing Elijah's fame after his death and adding to the abolition cause. Lovejoy served as pastor of the Congregational Church in Princeton, Illinois from 1838 to 1856. During these years, he also organized

594-478: The colony had more than 2200 residents, and both children and adults filled the classrooms in the several one-room schools, as they were eager for learning. The missionary teachers also evangelized and helped provide the limited medical care of the time. The AMA's pace of founding schools and colleges increased during and after the war. Freedmen, historically free blacks (many of whom were "mulattoes" of mixed race), and white sympathizers alike believed that education

627-463: The confessional and say, I do! Proclaim it upon the house-tops! Write it upon every leaf that trembles in the forest! Make it blaze from the sun at high noon and shine forth in the radiance of every star that bedecks the firmament of God. Let it echo through all the arches of heaven, and reverberate and bellow through all the deep gorges of hell, where slave catchers will be very likely to hear it. Owen Lovejoy lives at Princeton, Illinois, three-quarters of

660-577: The failures of the Reconstruction Era but never wavered in opposing disenfranchisement and continued the struggle over the following decades. By the 1870s, the AMA national office had relocated to New York City . While the AMA became widely known in the United States for its work in opposition to slavery and in support of education for freedmen, it also sponsored and maintained missions in numerous nations overseas. The 19th-century missionary effort

693-572: The final bill to end slavery in the District of Columbia ," long a goal of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also helped gain passage of legislation prohibiting slavery in the territories. He was one of the few steadfast Congressional supporters of Lincoln during the American Civil War . Lincoln wrote, "To the day of his death, it would scarcely wrong any other to say, he was my most generous friend." In an April 5, 1860 speech before

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726-522: The incident, Lovejoy stated in a letter to his wife Eunice that "I poured on a rainstorm of fire and brimstone as hot as I could, and you know something of what that is. I believe that I never said anything more Savage in the pulpit or on the stump." Lovejoy died in Brooklyn , New York, in 1864. His body was returned to Illinois for burial at Oakland Cemetery in Princeton. When he died Lincoln stated: "I've lost

759-494: The school farm. In 2021, the Museum of Greenwoood was organizing an exhibit on the school's history. The Emerald Triangle Museum & Rail Center exhibit included photographs and yearbook page from the school as well as images of the hospital. The South Carolina legislature passed a 2002 resolution declaring the school site a historic landmark. American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association ( AMA )

792-626: The work of activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and supporting legal efforts to desegregate public schools. The American Missionary Association was started by members of the American Home Missionary Society (AHMS) and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), who were disappointed that their first organizations refused to take stands against slavery and accepted contributions from slaveholders. From

825-532: Was Rev. John Gregg Fee . Rev. French was assigned to Port Royal, South Carolina , and went on a speaking tour with Robert Smalls , who famously escaped enslavement, as well as met with President Abraham Lincoln , Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase , jointly convincing them to allow blacks to serve in the Union military. By war's end, Union forces had organized 100 contraband camps, and many had AMA teachers. The AMA also served

858-461: Was 18, and his parents encouraged his education. His father was a Congregational minister and his mother was very devout. Lovejoy attended Bowdoin College from 1830 to 1833. He studied law but never practiced. Lovejoy migrated to Alton, Illinois , where his older brother Elijah Parish Lovejoy had moved in 1836 from St. Louis , because of hostility to his anti-slavery activities. The older Lovejoy

891-798: Was a Protestant -based abolitionist group founded on September 3, 1846 (178 years ago)  ( 1846-09-03 ) in Albany, New York . The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans , promotion of racial equality, and spreading Christian values . Its members and leaders were of both races; the Association was chiefly sponsored by the Congregationalist churches in New England. The main goals were to abolish slavery, provide education to African Americans, and promote racial equality for free Blacks. The AMA played

924-415: Was a priority for the newly freed people. It created and supported Atlanta University, Hampton Institute, Fisk University; Talladega College; Tougaloo College; Straight College (now Dillard University); Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson); and LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne Owen). Altogether, "the AMA founded eleven colleges and more than five hundred schools for the freedmen of the South during and after

957-542: Was by then an anti-slavery Presbyterian minister who edited the Alton Observer , an abolitionist newspaper. The younger brother studied theology there. Owen was present on the night of November 7, 1837 when his brother Elijah was murdered while trying to defend the printing press of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society from an angry mob. He is reported to have sworn on his brother's grave to "never forsake

990-429: Was elected as a Republican from Illinois as Representative to the 35th United States Congress and succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1857, until his death. In February 1859, Lovejoy responded to anti-abolitionists' charges that by aiding runaway slaves and opposing slavery he was a "negro stealer", saying on the floor of Congress that: If [you ask] whether I assist fugitive slaves...I march right up to

1023-505: Was murdered in November 1837 by pro-slavery forces, Owen, a friend of Abraham Lincoln , became a leader of abolitionists in Illinois, condemning slavery and assisting runaway slaves in escaping to freedom. Born in Albion, Maine in 1811, Lovejoy was one of five brothers born to Elizabeth (Patee) and Daniel Lovejoy, a Congregational minister and farmer. He worked with his family on the farm until he

Brewer Normal Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-559: Was named for Rev. Josiah Brewer (1796–1872), a minister, and missionary, and member of the school's first board of trustees. Brewer's son, became a principal at the school. By 1897, the school had an enrollment of 280 students and seven teachers, and it was both a boarding and day school. The AMA, alongside the black and white community in Greenwood built the Brewer Hospital in hopes of fostering community integration and work towards opening

1089-586: Was strong in India, China and east Asia. It was strongly supported by Congregational and Christian churches. Over time, the association became most closely aligned with the Congregational Christian Churches , established in 1931 as a union between those two groups of churches. Most of those congregations became members of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in the late 20th century. The AMA maintained

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