Brown University
First Known Black Graduates
Class of 1877
130 Years in Retrospect
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In the Year 1877
• African Diaspora Fact
– 9th Cape Frontier War starts with Xhosas and
Europeans clashing in South Africa
• United States Fact
– Compromise of 1877, U.S. presidential election, 1876
is resolved with the selection of Rutherford B. Hayes
even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular
vote
• African American Fact
– Henry O. Flipper becomes first known Black
Graduate of West Point
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Encyclopedia Brunoniana
by Martha Mitchell
• African Americans first came to Brown in
the 1870s. The first known African
American graduates were Inman Page and
George Washington Milford in the class of
1877…Whether there were African
American students who entered and left
before graduation is unknown…(page 6)
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Class of 1877
• University President:
Rev. Ezekiel Robinson
• 55 Members
• Commencement June 20
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5
George Washington Milford
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George Washington Milford
• Born:
November 11, 1852 in
Travelers Rest, Stafford County, Virginia
• Parents:
Robert & Martha Milford
• School:
Howard University
• Degrees:
Brown University, A.B. 1877
Howard Univ., LLB 1901
• Class of 1877 Historian
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George Washington Milford
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George Washington Milford
• Married:
Carrelean London,
Oct. 29 1889 (at age 36)
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George Washington Milford
•
Occupational:
•
Principal - Normal School, Christiansburg, VA 1877-78
•
High School, Easton, MD 1882-83
•
Law’s Seminary, Washington, DC 1884-86
•
Author, ‘Education in Maryland’, Freedman 1884
•
Author, ‘The Blair Educational Bill’, Freedman 1885
•
Lincoln Building Night School , Washington, DC 1886-87
•
Clerk, city Post Office, Washington, DC 1887-1903
•
Member of the bar admitted in 1902, DC Supreme Court
•
Admitted to practice before US Supreme Court, Oct 1911
10
George Washington Milford
• Deceased:
September 26, 1917
(at age 64)
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Inman Edward Page
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Inman Edward Page
• Born:
•
•
•
•
•
•
December 29, 1853 in
Warrington, Virginia
Parents:
Horace & Elizabeth Page
Siblings:
Nora
School:
Howard University
Degrees:
Brown University, A.B. 1877
A.M. 1880 / 1918
LLD Wilberforce University
Class of 1877 Orator
Base Ball Club
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Encyclopedia Brunoniana by
Martha Mitchell
• …the account of Class Day in the Providence Journal in 1877 stated,
“Mr. Page is the first colored graduate from the University. The
theme of his oration was the ‘Intellectual Prospects of America.’
• ... Mr. Page did not receive his position as class orator from a
chivalrous recognition of his race by his white associates, although
the choice is none the less creditable to them. He is an orator of rare
ability, speaking with weight and sententiousness without effort at
display and at times rising to a profound and impressive eloquence.
The scope of the essay indicated grasp of thought and the language
was often remarkable for elegance and power. There is no doubt but
he fairly earned his honors.” Page’s classmate George Milford (who
would have preceded him alphabetically in graduating) later
received an earned an LL.B. degree at Howard University and
became a lawyer in Washington.
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Inman Edward Page
• Married:
Zelia R. Ball
June 27, 1878 (at age 24)
• Children:
Zelia N. Page
Inman E. Page, Jr.
Mary Page
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Inman Edward Page
•
Occupational:
•
Teacher, Natchez, MS 1877-78
•
Teacher, Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, MO 1878-1880
•
Pres., Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, MO 1880-1898
•
Pres., Agricultural & Normal Univ., Langston, OK 1898-1915
•
Pres., Western Baptist College, Macon, MO 1916-1918
•
Pres., Roger Williams Univ., Nashville, TN 1918-1920
•
Principal, Separate Schools, Oklahoma City, OK 1921-22
•
Pres., Lincoln Univ., Jefferson City, MO 1922-23
•
Principal, Separate Schools, Oklahoma City, OK 1923-35
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Inman Edward Page
• Deceased:
December 21, 1935
(at age 81)
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Previous Tributes ~ 1977
•
•
Dr. Page and George Washington
Milford, another black member of
the class of 1877, paved the way
for an impressive history of black
graduates to follow. Such
individuals as John Hope, a
member of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society of the class of 1894, and
Ethel Tremaine Robinson, the first
black woman to graduate from
Pembroke in 1905, are simply two
of the many distinguished alumni
in Brown's history.
The discussion of our roots in
Brown's history would be
inadequate if we failed to honor
the efforts of black men and
women during both the 1968 and
the 1975 actions which were
motivated by a desire to assure
the continued presence of black
students-in the Brown community.
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Previous Tributes ~ 1979
• Ralph Ellison wrote:
“Such occasions are a product of the living
continuity of earlier historical contacts and
relationships which were initiated during
the turbulent days of our 19th century, and
which have persisted even when their
origins have been forgotten or ignored.”
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Today
we stand amid historic associations…we
may look down through all the past upon
the sacrifices made, the battles fought and
the hardships endured, in order that we
may enjoy this rich legacy of the ages; and
standing thus shall we not extend our
sympathies and our aid to all who are
laboring, silently perhaps, but earnestly to
extend the boundaries of knowledge?
~
June 15, 1877
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Class of 1877 ~ 35th Reunion
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Prepared for Inman Page Black Alumni Council
Smith Buonanno Hall ~ May 26, 2007
By
Russell Malbrough
Contact: Russell@alumni.brown.edu
Special Thanks to the Brown University Archives &
Ms. Gayle Lynch
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