Black First of the Day

1823

Alexander Lucius Twilight (1795-1857)

Alexander Lucius Twilight (1795-1857) was the first known black to graduate from an American college, when he received a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. Twilight, who was born in Bradford, Vermont, went on to become an educator, preacher, and legislator. He taught in Peru, New York, studied theology, and was licensed to preach by the Champlain Presbytery in New York. He was school principal in Brownington, Vermont, and at the same time minister of the local church. He became one of the first blacks elected to a state legislature, serving Montpelier, Vermont, from 1836 to 1837. Other black college graduates from this early period include: Edward A. Jones, who received his degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts; and John Brown Russwurm, first black graduate from Bowdoin College in Maine. Both graduated in 1826, with Jones graduating a few days ahead of Russworm. By 1860 only about twenty-eight blacks had received baccalaureate degrees from American colleges.

Sources: Bennett, Before the Mayflower, p. 172; Bowles and DeCosta, Between Two Worlds, pp. 12-13; Logan and Winston, Dictionary of American Negro Biography, p. 613.

From Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events by Jessie Carney Smith, © 2013 Visible Ink Press®. A celebration of achievement, accomplishments and pride.