Prudence Crandall (September 3, 1803 - January 28, 1890) was an American schoolteacher. In 1831, she took charge of the Canterbury Female Boarding School in Connecticut. In 1832, a young woman by the name of Sarah Harris, the daughter of a free African-Am
Prudence Crandall (September 3, 1803 - January 28, 1890) was an American schoolteacher. In 1831, she took charge of the Canterbury Female Boarding School in Connecticut. In 1832, a young woman by the name of Sarah Harris, the daughter of a free African-American farmer in the local community, asked to be accepted to the school. Many prominent townspeople objected and pressured to have Harris dismissed from the school, but Crandall refused. Consequently, Crandall ceased teaching white girls altogether and opened up her school strictly to African-American girls. In 1833, twenty African-American girls from Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, and surrounding areas in Connecticut arrived at Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. The the Connecticut legislature passed the Black Law, which prohibited a school with African-American students from outside the state without the town's permission. Crandall was arrested and placed in the county jail for one night and then released under bond to await her trials. A prominent abolitionist, Arthur Tappan, donated $10,000 to hire the ablest lawyers to defend her throughout her trials. The case was taken to the Supreme Court of Errors on appeal in 183where they reversed the decision of the lower court, and dismissed the case on the grounds of a lack of evidence. The public was so angry at the dismissal of the case that the school was set on fire. For the safety of her students, her family and herself, she closed her school. Connecticut repealed the Black Law in 1838, and later recognized Crandall with an act of the state legislature, prominently supported by Mark Twain, providing her with a $400 yearly pension in 1886. She died in 1890 at the age of 86.
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