Edmonia Highgate facts for kids

Edmonia Highgate (June 21, 1844 – October 16, 1870) was an important educator, writer, and activist. She worked to help formerly enslaved people after the American Civil War during a time called the Reconstruction era.

Edmonia was born in Syracuse, New York. Her work with the American Missionary Association took her to the Southern United States. There, she taught freed slaves in places like Norfolk, Virginia and New Orleans, Louisiana. Her writings for Christian Recorder show her as an early voice connecting religious beliefs with Black transcendentalism (a way of thinking about spiritual ideas).

Edmonia Highgate's Early Life

Edmonia Highgate was born in Syracuse, New York, on June 21, 1844. She was the first of seven children born to Charles and Hannah Francis Highgate. Her father, Charles, was a barber. The family also rented out rooms in their home. This helped them earn enough money to send their children to school.

Edmonia graduated from Syracuse High School in 1861. She was the only African American student in her graduating class. After high school, she earned a teaching certificate from the Syracuse Board of Education. Her family was involved with the Plymouth Congregational Church. They were also friends with famous people who fought against slavery and supported transcendentalist ideas. These connections greatly influenced Edmonia.

Her Work as a Teacher and Activist

Teaching in the North and South

After her father passed away in May 1861, Edmonia moved to Binghamton, New York. At just 19 years old, she became a school principal there. Three years later, Highgate joined an American Missionary Association school in Norfolk, Virginia. This school was for formerly enslaved people.

She taught at the Norfolk school for less than a year. However, the friendships she made with other teachers and the students who had experienced slavery changed her deeply. She later said her time at the Norfolk school was "the most earnest months of my existence."

Edmonia returned to Syracuse, New York, in October 1864. She gave an important speech at the National Convention of Colored Men. She was one of only two women who spoke at this event. The president of the convention, Frederick Douglass, praised her speech.

In March 1865, Edmonia started a new school in Darlington, Maryland. This school was for people who had just gained their freedom. While there, she wrote several letters that were published by the African Methodist Episcopal Church's Christian Recorder. Some of her writings include "Salvation Only in Work" and "Waiting for the Cars." She also wrote "A Stray Waif from the Port of Grace." In May 1865, she published "Congojoco," a story told in three parts. One part, "A Spring Day Up the James," was inspired by her brother Charlie's death in battle.

In 1866, Edmonia moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. Her sister Caroline also worked as an educator there. Outside of school, the Highgate sisters visited African American victims of violence in hospitals. They also helped start the Louisiana Educational Relief Association. This group worked to improve education for Black people. Edmonia's writings from New Orleans often talked about the racial tensions during the Reconstruction era. She wrote about the race riots that happened in the summer of 1866.

The New Orleans Massacre

On July 30, 1866, a terrible event happened in New Orleans. About 25 White Radical Republicans gathered to protest new laws called Black Codes. These laws limited the rights of African Americans, especially their right to vote. Over 200 African American Civil War veterans joined them to show support.

Former Confederate men and the New Orleans police were angry. They did not want to lose White supremacy (the idea that white people are superior). They attacked the convention, targeting the people who supported equal rights. Even when people waved a white flag to surrender, the attacks continued. Many people tried to run away, but the attackers chased them. Many African Americans walking in the streets were also killed. This riot led to the deaths of over 200 people, mostly African Americans, and three white activists. Feeling unsafe, Edmonia left New Orleans and went to teach in Lafayette Parish.

Edmonia's Fight for Justice

Edmonia Highgate spent her life fighting for good education and equal rights for African Americans. Soon after she became a teacher, she began working for the Pennsylvania’s Freedman Relief Association. She strongly believed that education was important. She pushed for better schools for freed Black communities.

Highgate worked to inspire more teachers to join the movement against slavery. In a speech to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, she said that teachers needed to show that "it is safe to do right." She traveled and gave speeches for the American Missionary Association, encouraging people to donate. Half of the money she raised went to a school her mother worked at in Mississippi. The other half went to the AMA's funds.

While teaching, Highgate also worked hard for equal rights. In New Orleans, she spoke out against the Louisiana School Board's policy of keeping schools separate by race. Because of this, some of her students were shot at while walking to school and even in the classroom. Highgate wanted her students to stop suffering from racial hatred. She wanted them to get the best education possible. She spent all her time opening schools and creating ways for all kinds of people to learn.

In a letter she wrote in 1864, Highgate shared her joy in teaching. She said, "I am convinced that it would be useless to attempt to report in one letter the various thrilling cases with which am daily permitted to meet." She described taking over a class of 50 students and how happy she was teaching evening classes for men studying geography and math. She found it inspiring that these "dear souls are forever free."

Edmonia Highgate's Legacy

Edmonia Highgate died suddenly on October 16, 1870, in Syracuse, New York. Train tickets to Tugaloo, Mississippi, were found in her belongings. This showed she planned to return to her teaching career there.