Crummell, Alexander (1819-1898) Clergyman and Author
Alexander Crummell was born in New York City to free parents. Crummell was a descendant of West African royalty since his paternal grandfather was a tribal king. He attended Mulberry Street School in New York In 1831, Crummell was enrolled in a new high school in Canaan, New Hampshire, for a brief time before it was destroyed by neighborhood residents.
Five years later, Crummell attended Oneida Institute manual labor school. He was received as a candidate for Holy Orders in 1839 and applied for admission to the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, but was not admitted because of his color. He was eventually received in the diocese of Massachusetts and ordained to the diaconate there.
After study at Queen's College in Cambridge, England, Crummell went to Africa as a missionary and eventually became a professor of mental and moral science in Liberia. There Crummell became widely known as a public figure and in 1862 he published a volume of his addresses, most of which had been delivered in Africa.
After spending 20 years in Africa, Crummell returned to the United States and became rector of St. Luke's Church, Washington, D.C. He later founded the American Negro Academy.
