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RICHARD T. GREENER : THE FIRST BLACK HARVARD COLLEG E GRADUAT E For Goo d Governmen t & Urban Politic s Richard Theodore Greener 70 was the first Negro to graduate from Harvard College. . . . A Harvar d educatio n wa s b y n o mean s Greener' s youthfu l ambition; in fact, though his grandfather ha d taught in a school for colored children i n Baltimore , ther e wa s n o colleg e traditio n i n hi s family . Hi s father, when Greener was born on January 30,1844, in Philadelphia, was a steward o n a Liverpool packet . A few years later the father shippe d o n a California packet , and in 1853 the California gold fever hit him. Successfu l in his mining for a while, he was taken il l and suffered losses , and shortl y disappeared; hi s famil y neve r hear d fro m hi m again , an d i n du e tim e presumed him dead. The year the father Ven t t o digging for gold " the mother move d th e family to Boston. Findin g no good schools for colored children in that city she shortly moved hers across the Charles to Cambridge, so that they might attend an "unproscriptive school," and Richard secured hi s early education at th e Broadway Grammar Schoo l unde r th e direction o f Maste r Robert s and Miss Lucretia Clapp. When about fourteen years old, however, he left school to help support his mother , an d worke d tw o year s i n a sho e store , a yea r wit h a wood engraver, a year o r mor e a s a porte r a t th e Pavilio n Hote l o n Tremon t Street, Boston, briefly i n the fruit busines s an d th e newspaper trade , and then fo r tw o year s a s a porte r fo r Messrs . Palme r an d Batchelde r o n Washington Street , Boston. During these years he became convinced that his was a high destiny, that he would make something of his life. Whil e employed by D.J. Smith & Co., wood engravers , h e plunge d int o th e intricacie s o f th e craft , an d indee d showed considerabl e aptitude ; bu t on e day , eithe r i n ange r o r under estimating hi s employee' s pride , th e employe r struc k him—an d Richar d walked out of the plant. H e seriously considered the life of an artist, on the basis of his experience with D.J. Smith, but when he "found he could not go 38 Richard T. Greener abroad" he turned his attention t o obtaining an education. While he was at the Pavilion Hote l Richard arouse d th e interest o f a number of the guests. A Judge Russell gave him access to his library, and a Mrs. Maria S. Cook undertook to instruct him in French. Later , when he moved o n t o Palme r an d Batchelder' s hi s dutie s include d tha t o f night watchman , and he occupied hi s spare nocturnal tim e reading Englis h and French books , an d als o familiarizin g himself , fro m wha t record s wer e available to him , with th e "bankin g and all the other detail s of business." Believing he had earned a position superior to that of porter, he approached his employer and suggested promotion. Whe n told that his employer "was afraid to attempt it," he vowed to "do nothing else but study for the next ten years if necessary." H e was sure that at th e end of the war opportunitie s never before available would open to colored people, and he determined to be in position to take advantage of them. In th e summe r o f 186 2 h e wrot e Frankli n B . Sanbor n '55 , later t o become a famous teacher and reformer, who was then teaching in a private school in Concord, to ask if he might enter Mr. Sanborn's school and there prepare for college. T o this Sanborn agreed; but, told of the arrangement, Batchelder suggested Oberlin as an alternate; Oberlin was cheaper, he said, and he' d hel p hi m financially . Greene...

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