by Hannah-Rose Murray
PhD student, University of Nottingham
PhD student, University of Nottingham
One of the first African nationalists, Alexander Crummell is an important figure in transatlantic history. Born free in 1819, Crummell (whose father was enslaved) grew up in New York and from an early age supported the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Crummell decided to visit Britain in 1847 to raise donations for the erection of a church for African Americans in New York. The Derby Mercury reported that Crummell’s congregation suffered from “extreme poverty” and the “spiritual destitution is most pitiable” for Black Americans in that city. He sought to raise over £3,000 and by deciding to enroll for three years in one of Britain’s elite universities (Cambridge), he wanted to prove to Americans that the insulting and discriminatory policies which governed many American colleges that barred Black Americans from entering was wrong (Derby Mercury, 23 May 1849). Although it is likely that Black students graduated from Cambridge in the eighteenth century, according to official records, Crummell was the first Black student to graduate. His wife and three children joined him whilst in Cambridge.
Crummell decided to visit Britain in 1847 to raise donations for the erection of a church for African Americans in New York. The Derby Mercury reported that Crummell’s congregation suffered from “extreme poverty” and the “spiritual destitution is most pitiable” for Black Americans in that city. He sought to raise over £3,000 and by deciding to enroll for three years in one of Britain’s elite universities (Cambridge), he wanted to prove to Americans that the insulting and discriminatory policies which governed many American colleges that barred Black Americans from entering was wrong (Derby Mercury, 23 May 1849). Although it is likely that Black students graduated from Cambridge in the eighteenth century, according to official records, Crummell was the first Black student to graduate. His wife and three children joined him whilst in Cambridge.
In one meeting in London in 1849, Crummell urged his audience (but especially abolitionists) to boycott all slave-produce including cotton and sugar. Cotton in particular could be grown in India free from the stain of slavery, a popular argument made by Black activists at the time. One newspaper declared that Crummell represented an “unanswerable argument against the notion that the negro race are incapable of high intellectual cultivation and attainments." (Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, October 5 1851)
Crummell preached to congregations in Hull during the spring of 1853. According to a local newspaper: “We feel sure that those who had the advantage of hearing this talented African clergyman, a few weeks ago, will not miss the second and last opportunity. Mr Crummell was formerly the rector of a church in New York, but his heart yearning after his negro brethren in Africa, he engaged to devote himself to God’s service in Liberia, and being desirous to go on his high mission well prepared to prove a skillful soldier in his master’s cause, he came to this country for the advantage of a regular academic course at Cambridge, where he has just taken his degree, and proposes sailing to Liberia next month.” (The Hull Packet and East Riding Times, 6 May 1853) |
In 1853, Crummell moved to Liberia for twenty years to work with African people and teach them the Gospel. It was in Liberia where he developed a pan-African ideology in which all Black people should unite together in racial solidarity, teach their brethren Christianity and bond together to fight racism and white supremacy. He wanted all people of colour to move from America to Liberia so his mission could be realized, although his ambitions never materialized. Crummell returned to America in 1872 and established St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Washington D.C., which is now a designated National Historic Landmark.
Crummell died in New Jersey in 1898.
Crummell died in New Jersey in 1898.