Prudence Crandall’s Legacy: The Fight for Equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of Education

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1. Prudence Crandall, April 1834. 2. Slave purchase flyer, Charleston, South Carolina. 3. Slave traders and auctioneers were not prohibited from separating husband from wife or children from parents. 4. Slaves often were brutally punished; no consequence ensued to a slave owner who injured or killed a slave. 5. Hezekiah Carpenter House, Prudence Crandall’s birthplace, in Hope Valley, Rhode Island. 6. Hezekiah Crandall, brother of Prudence. 7. Esther Carpenter Crandall, mother of Prudence Crandall. 8. Prudence Crandall’s school in Canterbury, Connecticut, site of Prudence Crandall Museum. 9. Canterbury, Connecticut, in the 1830s. The Canterbury Congregational Church is in the foreground; Crandall’s school is on the far left. 10. Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, Connecticut—Samuel Joseph May’s church. 11. Canterbury Congregational Church, the location of the town meetings regarding Crandall’s school. 12. Packerville Baptist Church, Plainfield, Connecticut, where Crandall and her students worshipped. 13. William Lloyd Garrison in the 1850s. 14. Helen Benson Garrison, wife of William Lloyd Garrison. 15. Arnold Buffum, an abolitionist and ally of Crandall and Garrison. 16. Samuel Joseph May, a minister, teacher at Prudence Crandall’s school, and devoted friend to Crandall and Garrison. 17. Charles C. Burleigh, editor of the Unionist. He favored immediate emancipation, equal rights for women, and repeal of the death penalty. 18. Harris family sampler, which states, “Sarah . . . was born April 16, 1812.” Sarah Harris was Prudence Crandall’s first black student. (left) 19. William H. Burleigh, a teacher at Crandall’s school. He was a poet, a journalist, and an abolitionist. (right) 20. Arthur Tappan, a wealthy merchant and financial supporter of abolitionism and Prudence Crandall’s school. 21. County Courthouse, Brooklyn, Connecticut, the location of the three Crandall trials. 22. Chauncey Cleveland ordered the arrest and prosecution of Prudence Crandall for violation of Connecticut’s “Black Law.” 23. Andrew T. Judson, initially a supporter of Crandall, became her chief antagonist and prosecutor after the admission of the black student Sarah Harris. (above left) 24. Calvin Goddard, attorney for Prudence Crandall, served as mayor of Norwich, Connecticut, U.S. congressman, judge of the superior court, and speaker of the state house of representatives. (above right) 25. William W. Ellsworth, Prudence Crandall’s lead attorney, served as U.S. congressman, governor of Connecticut, and justice of the state supreme court. (left) 26. Henry Strong, attorney for Prudence Crandall, served in the state senate. 27. Thomas S. Williams was a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court at the time of Crandall v. State. 28. David Daggett was chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court at the time of Crandall v. State. 29. Samuel Church was a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court at the time of Crandall v. State. 30. Clark Bissell was a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court at the time of Crandall v. State. 31. Engraving inspired by Crandall’s school and the refusal of the Canterbury Congregational Church to admit Crandall’s students. 32. Engraving based in part on the fire at Prudence Crandall’s school. 33. Lydia Maria Child, an author and abolitionist, and a supporter of Crandall and Garrison. 34. Theodore Dwight Weld, the leader of the Lane Debates on slavery at the Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. 35. Crandall homestead in Troy Grove, Illinois. 36. U.S. Senator Charles Sumner. Sumner argued the first school desegregation case in 1849. 37. Dred Scott attempted to secure his freedom from slavery in Dred Scott v. Sandford. 38. As chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Roger Taney cited Crandall v. State to support his decision in Dred Scott. 39. Advertisement for reprints of Taney’s Dred Scott decision. 40. William Lloyd Garrison and his sons Wendell, Francis, William Lloyd II, and George. Garrison sent this photo to Prudence Crandall. 41. The Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Negro Regiment. The white officers Lieutenant George Garrison and Prudence Crandall’s step-grandson, Captain Frank Goodwin, led the black troops. 42. Sarah Harris Fayerweather. On the reverse, Crandall’s niece Rena Keith Clisby wrote, “the colored girl . . . that caused all the trouble.” 43. Prudence Crandall in Elk Falls, Kansas. 44. Gristmill at Elk Falls, Kansas, late nineteenth century. 45. Newspaper reporter’s sketch of Prudence Crandall’s...