Saturday, June 2, 2012

What an artist and what a subject!

I normally do not look much at the artist or the things about the art I post before I write about it but I was so struck by this statue and the realization that there are too few representations like it when the books of bravery and outstanding acts of African American people is large and long. I was reading about the artist and admire both his skill and his life's work goals I hope you find Gabriel Koren from Hungary as interesting as I have in learning about him. This statue is Prudence Crandall with student.

Normally I would write here what is see in this piece but I will mix in what I know about this as I go. I kept finding this on a kids page then I found out why Children lobbied to have it made sent in pennies to collect for it. Prudence was a remarkable women and I would be dishonoring to her name and legacy if I did not just tell her story here. She was a Quaker school teacher that admitted a black girl into her class room in 1832, a revolutionary act. This act lead to the community removing their white children from the school. So she closed the teaching school and reopened and offered the classes to 20 African American girls from up and down the eastern shore of the us. the opposition was great a year after this a law was passed prohibiting schooling black children from out side the state with out the towns permitting it: this law was called the black law. She continued to teach the girls and was arrested and put on trial. With one judgment against the the school took it all the way to the supreme court and won!  With this the towns people grew angry vandalized the school and finally burned the school down 1834 forcing her to close. Connecticut repealed the law 4 years later. With the support of Mark Twain she was recognized and provided money monthly and her school still stands.

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