“All children are equal before the law,”… “Not the few who can pass the examination of a skin scanning committee ”
– William Cooper Nell
”As in the twentieth century, black citizens identified equal education as a critical step toward full equality. Using techniques similar to those of later activists they organized protests, petitions, and a court challenge to segregated schools.
The Activist: William Cooper Nell
At the segregated Abiel Smith School twelve year old William Cooper Nell was cited for academic excellence. White students were invited to a banquet at Faneuil Hall and awarded a medal. Nell received only a voucher for Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. Nell served as a waiter at the banquet. “You ought to be here with the other boys,” said one offi cial. “Why have you not taken steps to bring it about?” thought Nell. He began a lifetime of activism including petitions to end school segregation.
William C. Nell. . .
- Massachusetts Historical Society
The Abiel Smith School. . .
A wealthy philanthropist, Abiel Smith, had donated money to establish a school for black children. By 1848 it had fallen behind other Boston Public Schools by almost every measure. The Mather School library had nine hundred volumes, the Mayhew School four hundred, while the Smith School had one.
- Massachusetts Archives
Petition against . . .
This 1851 petition against school segregation includes the signer’s addresses. Many, including Belknap Street, Southac Street, and Smith Court are black neighborhoods on the North Slope of Beacon Hill.
- Massachusetts Archives
William C. Nell's Boarding . . .
This boarding house was home to William Cooper Nell (on the North Slope of Beacon Hill.)
- Massachusetts Archives
Attorney Robert Morris
- Social Law Library
The Attorney: Robert Morris
Morris was born in Salem in 1823 and started waiting on tables before the age of
thirteen. One Thanksgiving he served abolitionist lawyer Ellis Gray Loring at a Salem
home. Impressed with Morris’s demeanor Loring invited the boy to return with him
to Boston as a servant. Morris sat outside, next to the driver,
on the segregated stage coach. A few years later Loring
encouraged Morris to study
law. He later challenged school
segregation in the courts.
Returning the Favor:
Morris was called the “black lawyer” but also the “Irish lawyer” because so many clients were Irish immigrants. He was sympathetic to a young boy harassed by classmates in the Chelsea schools. One of ten Irish students in a class of one hundred, the child’s arm was broken at one point. Starting as an office boy with Morris, Patrick Collins later studied law and became mayor of Boston.
This 1851 petition against segregated schools
This 1851 petition against segregated schools includes the names of socially prominent abolitionists including Wendell Phillips, son of a former mayor, and attorney Ellis Gray Loring, who mentored Robert Morris. Charles Sumner, less prominent at first, later became famous as a Massachusetts Senator.