William C. Nell House
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| William C. Nell House | |
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| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
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| Location: | 3 Smith Court Boston, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1851 |
| Architect: | Lancaster,William; Bringham,Benajah |
| Architectural style(s): | Federal |
| Added to NRHP: | May 11, 1976 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 76001979[1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
The William C. Nell House, now a private residence, was a boarding home located in 3 Smith Court in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in front of what it was the African Meeting House, now Museum of African American History.
It is a National Historic Landmark having been the residence of William C. Nell. He was an abolitionist, highly responsive to pressing concerns facing Boston’s and the nation’s black community, especially the struggle for equal school rights.
[edit] William C. Nell
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William C. Nell was born on 20 December 1816, the son of W. G. Nell, who would be a founding member and vice president of the Massachusetts General Colored Association, an antislavery society formed in 1826. The elder Nell was well known as a proponent of exclusivity in black organization and activism. W. C. Nell would follow a very different course from his father, primarily because of his association with Garrison, publisher of the newspaper “Liberator”,that was dedicated (as explained in the first issue 1831), to promote moral and intellectual elevation, advancement of right and the defence of the character of African American community. Whites and blacks should work together to attain these themes. Such themes resonated with the young Nell. In 1831, he started to work as apprentice in the office of the “Liberator. He was also secretary of the Adelphic Union Library Association,which had been formed in 1838 to sponsor lectures and debates. For 1842’s fall series, he invited such influential antislavery spokepeople, who brought together whites and blacks from all the classes of the community.
The fight for equal rights in Boston would be long and difficult. During the 1840s blacks were restricted to segregated schools, poor neighbourhoods, and unskilled jobs. An embittering experience perhaps prompted him, since early age, to get involved in the fights for equal rights to education. In 1829 was recognized as Franklin Medal Scholar from the segregated African Meeting House. Rather than receive the silver medal that white scholars received, he received a biography of Benjamin Franklin. Worse, they were not invited to attend the celebratory dinner hosted by Boston’s mayor. Nell went to the event, not as a scholar, but as a waiter.
“The impression made on my mind by this day’s experience, deepened into a solemn vow that, God helping me, I would do my best to hasten the day when color of the skin would be no barrier to equal school rights.”
In 1844 the black community petitioned the school committee for the right to send their children to public schools of their choice. The petition, reflecting N. values and most likely written largely by him, asserted that the committee refusal to allow black children in white schools is”felt as a slight upon us and for children and is calculated to repress an honorable ambition…..It is very hard to retain self-respect if we see ourselves set apart and avoided as a degenarate face”. The petition was denied. This boycott was only the beginning of a conflict that would extend beyond a decade. In 1847, he departed Boston to attend the Nation Colored Convention at Troy, New York, pleased to find that the leaders had reconsidered their policy and white abolitionists were allowed to register. During the convention Frederick Douglass approached him to join him in Rochester and work on The North Star, his antislavery newspaper. He remained in Rochester for nearly 2 years, and in 1849 he returned to Boston a changed man. In his early career, he rarely spoke in public. In New York, he attended antislavery meetings and began to speak regularly. Soon after his return ,in the fall of 1849, he took leadership of the weekly meeting of the Equal School Rights Committee. He argued for the appointment of 12 efficient men who would closely scrutinize the activities of the school committee.. He assisted in establishing and raising funds form antislavery societies for a temporary school for the children of protesting parents. In 1849, Benjamin Roberts, father of the young Sarah, filed a suit against the city of Boston because his daughter had been expelled from a white primary school. But in April 1850, The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled against the family, and the judge Lemuel Shaw reasoned that since political and sex distinctions were made on the base of sex, racial distinctions, as well, could be legitimately made in education. It was a heavy blow for the black community After5 year of suit against the city no progress had been made. A determined Nell organized and was the moving spirit behind renewed efforts. At a meeting of the Colored Citizens of Boston he proposed and received authorization, to request support from New England AntiSlavery Society.in a campaign to petition the state legislature. That tactic, together with the effective boycott eventually moved the state legislature to pass a law in 1855 guaranteeing equal school rights to black children.
The black community, recognizing Nell contribution, presented him with a gold watch. It was, Nell remembered, “the proudest moment of my life”.
Nell died in 1874 and his efforts on behalf of the black community were all but forgotten. Still, there is much that can be learned from his life. He was a modest man ,who never hesitated to point out that “he did not pretend to the merit of originality, but merely to have gathered up the words and views of others”. He fought for racial integration, he repeatedly petitioned the state legislature and he encouraged fellow blacks to become involved in organizing. He responded to threats against black freedom with increasing militancy.
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
[edit] External links
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