Laura Matilda Towne
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Laura Matilda Towne | |
---|---|
Born | May 3, 1825 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | February 22, 1901 |
Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Occupation | Educator |
Laura Matilda Towne (May 3, 1825 – February 22, 1901) was an American abolitionist and educator who founded the first school in the United States for the education of freedmen, the Penn School, in 1862 on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina. The school was established as part of the Port Royal Experiment during the American Civil War.
Early life and education
[edit]Towne was born on May 3, 1825, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[1] to John Towne and Sarah Robinson.[citation needed]
She studied homeopathic medicine privately under Dr. Constantine Hering. She enrolled in Penn Medical University but there is no record of her receiving a degree.[2]
Career
[edit]She was raised in Philadelphia hearing sermons about the abolition of slavery by her minister, William Henry Furness at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. Influenced by these teachings, she volunteered in several charity schools from the late 1850s until the start of the American Civil War in 1861. After the Union Army captured Port Royal, South Carolina, and the Sea Islands, Towne volunteered to educate the freed slaves and sailed there in April 1862. Her initial role was as housekeeper and secretary to Edward L. Pierce, but her role evolved to providing medical services and teaching.[2] With the help of her Quaker friend Ellen Murray [3] they founded the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, the first school for newly freed slaves in the United States.[2]
The school started with nine students and operated out of the back room of a plantation house. Laura Towne and Murray spent the next forty years of their lives ministering to the freed slaves, developing their trust, providing them with medical care, teaching them to read and write, and fighting for their land rights. Laura Towne and Ellen Murray eventually adopted several African American children and raised them as their own.
After the Civil War, the Penn School was the only secondary school available on the Sea Islands to African Americans. Towne worked to maintain the school and funded teacher's salaries with her own money. She also worked as a public health official and supported the temperance organization Band of Hope.[2]
She took care of the school for the rest of her life and eventually gave up practicing medicine. After her death, Penn School was transferred to Hampton Institute, at which time it began operating as the Penn Normal, Industrial, and Agricultural School.
Recognized as a National Historic Landmark, the Penn Center trained generations of students, including U.S. Congressman Robert Smalls (1839-1915). During the Civil Rights era the Penn Center served as a training ground for non-violent civil disobedience by welcoming Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now a National Historic Landmark, the Penn Center celebrated 150 years education, leadership and service.
Towne died on February 22, 1901, on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina,[2] and was interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.[4]
References
[edit]Citation
- ^ "Only a Teacher - Schoolhouse Pioneers". www.pbs.org. PBS WHYY. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Paul, Catherine A. "Towne, Laura Matilda". socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu. Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ "Penn School Papers, 1862-1977 and undated (bulk 1862-1949)". Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ "Laura M Towne". www.remembermyjourney.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
Sources
Further reading
[edit]- Butchart, Ronald E. (2010-01-01). "Laura Towne and Ellen Murray: Northern Expatriates and the Foundations of Black Education in South Carolina, 1862-1908". In Spruill, Marjorie Julian; Littlefield, Valinda W.; Johnson, Joan Marie (eds.). South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-2938-3.
- Bauer, Natalee Kēhaulani (2022-11-23). Tender Violence in US Schools: Benevolent Whiteness and the Dangers of Heroic White Womanhood. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-77834-2.
- Rose, Willie Lee (1998) [1964]. Rehearsal for Reconstruction: The Port Royal Experiment. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-2061-8.
- Glymph, Thavolia (2020). The Women's Fight: The Civil War's Battles for Home, Freedom, and Nation. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-5363-1. JSTOR 10.5149/9781469653655_glymph.