Charles L. Reason

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Charles Lewis Reason (July 21, 1818 – 1893) was a mathematician, linguist, and educator. Born to immigrants from the West Indies, he was the first African American university professor.^[1]

A child prodigy in mathematics, he began teaching the subject at the African Free School, which he also attended, at the age of fourteen. He then attended McGrawville College in McGraw, New York.^{[citation needed]}

In 1847, Reason, along with Charles B. Ray, founded the New York-based Society for the Promotion of Education among Colored Children, and twelve years later, he was appointed professor of belles lettres, Greek, Latin, and French, while also serving as an adjunct professor of mathematics at New York Central College.^[1]

In 1852 he left that post to become the principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, a post he held until 1856. During his time there, he increased its enrolment from six students to 118.^[1]

Thereafter, he returned to New York, where he spent the rest of his career in public education as a teacher, administrator, and reformer. During this time, he was instrumental in his efforts to abolish slavery and segregation, successfully spearheading an 1873 statute to integrate New York's public schools.^{[citation needed]}