Jeffrey Brace

A former slave taken from West Africa around 1750 and a veteran of the American Revolution, Jeffrey Brace became the first African-American citizen of Poultney, Vermont.^[1] He became blind in his later years and published his memoirs under the title, The Blind African Slave or the Memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace. The faculty union at the University of Vermont now offers a $500 book award in his name, giving it "to students who exemplify academic excellence and an active commitment to achieving social and economic justice."^[2]

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