Grating the Nutmeg: Episode 202
Miss Crandall’s School for Black Women
Host: Mary Donohue
Guest: Dr. Jennifer Risenga
Date: February 1, 2025
Overview
This episode dives into the remarkable story of Prudence Crandall and the Canterbury Academy, which, for just 18 months (1833-1834), was the only school in Connecticut dedicated to the advanced education of Black women. Host Mary Donohue interviews Dr. Jennifer Risenga, author of Schooling the Success of the Canterbury Academy for Black Women, to explore newly-discovered personal histories, the daring formation of the school, the fury it faced, and lasting impact through its students’ descendants. This episode reframes Prudence Crandall not as a lone white savior, but as part of a pioneering trio of women—Crandall, Maria Davis, and Sarah Harris—who together challenged deeply entrenched racial and gender barriers.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
The Founding Triad: Crandall, Davis, and Harris
[02:22–07:20]
- Prudence Crandall: A Quaker schoolteacher who opened a finishing school for white girls in Canterbury, CT.
- Maria Davis: A young, abolitionist-minded Black woman from Boston, employed in Crandall’s home, who quietly exposed Crandall to radical ideas by leaving copies of The Liberator around the house.
- Sarah Harris: A mixed-race (African American and Native American) local teenager, already educated to the limit allowed by public schools, who petitioned for admission to Crandall's academy to become a teacher.
Quote:
“Crandall writes about how in the pages of The Liberator, the true condition of the people of color in the north was told to her.”
—Dr. Risenga [03:39]
- Sarah Harris had to return twice to ask for admission—Crandall only agreed after a “talismanic” (random) Bible reading (Ecclesiastes 4:1).
- The idea was not white saviorism—it was vetted by Black women, with input and risk taken by the Black community.
Quote:
“This was a moment of women’s history, both black women’s history and white women’s history. And that’s a crucial dimension that hasn’t really been told in the story.”
—Dr. Risenga [06:19]
Transformation into a Black Women’s Academy
[07:20–11:24]
- Canterbury’s white leadership and families initially supported the white girls' school for social prestige.
- Crandall’s decision to admit Sarah Harris “blindsided” the town and was called a “novel experiment.”
- Facing immediate backlash, Crandall sought to convert the academy into a school exclusively for Black women, going as far as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia to personally recruit students—unheard of for an unmarried woman then.
Quote:
“For an unmarried white woman to travel to New York City was already questionable enough. But then to meet with every leading black male clergy person of New York City, that was unprecedented.”
—Dr. Risenga [12:38]
- Black families took great risks sending their daughters; the selection of Crandall was rooted in trust and collective vetting.
Escalation: White Backlash and Institutional Violence
[15:45–20:24]
- The opposition grew from social pressure and persuasion to aggressive legal maneuvers, including:
- Angry town meetings
- Threats of corporal punishment (e.g., threatened public whipping of student Ann Eliza Hammond)
- Passage of “The Black Law” in Connecticut, criminalizing the education of out-of-state Black people
Quote:
“They actually threatened to whip the daughter of Elizabeth Hammond and Eliza Hammond. They threatened to whip her on the naked back…”
—Dr. Risenga [18:15]
- Crandall herself is jailed—by her own calculation, to maximum publicize the injustice.
- Black students demonstrated extraordinary discipline and solidarity, often refusing to testify in court despite legal threats.
Memorable Courtroom Moment:
“The students had to...not react to these arguments being made against their citizenship...And, again, these are 16-year-olds—not the age best known to refrain from an eye roll or a sigh at an inopportune time. And yet these students didn’t do that.”
—Dr. Risenga [21:42]
- The Black Law’s first trial (Aug 1833): Ended in a hung jury due to the poise and fortitude of students.
Pretexts for White Opposition
[25:27–28:15]
- Major arguments advanced by white townsmen:
- Fear of being “overrun” by unknown Black people
- Miscegenation panic (Black women marrying local white men)
- Belief that Black people did not need or deserve advanced education
Quote (on white fears):
“One being a letter that a student wrote…said…‘the only thing [Canterbury] lacks is civilized men.’”
—Dr. Risenga [26:21]
- Racist editorials questioned: “of what use can it be for a coachman to know Horace or mathematics?”
Physical & Psychological Violence
[30:05–37:20]
- Daily harassment, taunts, and constant attempts at doxxing (with students maintaining solidarity and anonymity)
- Frequent vandalism, including soiling the well with cow manure, refusal to serve students at shops, and breaking windows
- Psychological warfare escalated with the killing of a pet cat and, most alarmingly, an arson attempt thwarted by visitor Frederick Olney. He was then falsely indicted for the very crime he prevented, only to be exonerated in court after crucial testimony from a student’s mother (delivered through her literate daughter, as she herself was illiterate).
Quote:
“The fact that we didn’t even know [Elizabeth Webb Iredell] had been a student until 2025 has something to do with that code of anonymity…their own sisterhood with each other.”
—Dr. Risenga [31:06]
Quote:
“Olney was at the school that day delivering a care package. One of the cutest things that any we can imagine, right?... When Elizabeth Marshall found out Olney was put on trial, she made the trip to Canterbury...and she gave the testimony that cinched it.”
—Dr. Risenga [34:30]
Closure and Aftermath
[37:20–42:17]
- Inspired by anti-Black riots in New York and Philadelphia, mobs emboldened in Canterbury.
- The final straw: Overnight mass vandalism (every window smashed, threats escalating to sexual violence or death).
- Crandall, now married to Rev. Calvin Filio, found no help from town leaders and closed the school to protect her students.
Quote:
“To wait for the next attack would be to invite a sexual assault or death. And at that point, the school did close...”
—Dr. Risenga [40:11]
- Crandall lived 40 subsequent years in obscurity before being recognized for her advocacy. Later, thanks in part to the intervention of Mark Twain, she received a Connecticut state pension, which allowed her a measure of dignity and activism in her final years.
The School’s Ripple Effect: Legacies of the Students
[47:21–54:48]
- Despite short operational period, the Canterbury Academy’s alumnae had national and even international impact, including:
- Sarah Harris and her family: Multiple children; key figures in education.
- Mary Harris Williams (Sarah’s sister): Educated newly freed people in New Orleans; descendants helped shape jazz (members in the pioneering Robichaux Orchestra, married Cab Calloway, contributed to school desegregation and women's movements).
- Amy Fenner: Descendant Fritz Pollard Jr. was an Olympian at Hitler’s 1936 Berlin Olympics (won bronze alongside Jesse Owens) and father Fritz Pollard Sr. a pioneering NFL coach.
- Mary Elizabeth Miles Bibb: Became an Afro-Canadian newspaper editor, famed abolitionist.
- Julia Williams Garnett: Married militant abolitionist Henry Highland Garnett; centerpiece of 19th-century Black intellectual history.
- Many students’ descendants became teachers, activists, journalists, and major cultural figures.
Quote:
“I sometimes feel as though that has been my job is organizing the class reunion. We're just, you know, 200 years after class let out.”
—Dr. Risenga [53:54]
- The legacy directly connects to high-profile civil rights legal work of later generations. Example: Werner McGuinn—a law student supported by Mark Twain, later mentor to Thurgood Marshall.
Quote:
“We have this kind of through line From Mark Twain to Crandall...then Maguinn to Marshall. And so it's not an accident that in the suite of cases that includes Brown v. Board, that Ellsworth's arguments in favor of the Canterbury School and black citizenship show up again.”
—Dr. Risenga [47:18]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
“What we have here is a moment in American history when it isn’t a white savior... it’s the Black women themselves, judging who among white women might actually be their friend...”
—Dr. Risenga [06:07] -
“Crandall herself was arrested... she understood that this was going to amplify the cause, which it did quite effectively.”
—Dr. Risenga [20:47] -
On the students in court:
“They had to be sitting there and not reacting to these arguments being made against their citizenship…these are 16-year-olds…yet these students didn't do that.”
—Dr. Risenga [21:42] -
On the reason for opposition:
“Unknown black people would be coming to the town, and we don’t know what their habits are...”
—Dr. Risenga [25:32] -
Student’s sardonic letter:
“It's a beautiful village, the only thing it lacks is civilized men.”
—Crandall Student, via Dr. Risenga [26:21] -
On anonymous solidarity:
“The fact that we didn’t even know [a student] had been a student until 2025 has something to do with that code of anonymity that the students knew they needed to do...”
—Dr. Risenga [31:06] -
On legacy:
“For a Crandall school to be thought of as a successful starting point instead of a failed attempt I think is so powerful.”
—Mary Donohue [54:07]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 02:22 — Origins: The three key women (Crandall, Davis, Harris)
- 07:20 — White resistance to school integration
- 11:24 — Recruitment trips and the agency of Crandall and Black communities
- 15:45 — Escalation: From persuasion to legal and physical violence
- 20:24 — The “Black Law” and the landmark court trial
- 25:27 — White townspeople’s stated objections
- 30:05 — Daily harassment, violence, and community codes of secrecy
- 34:30 — The fire at the school and Olney’s trial
- 37:20 — School closes after riot and vandalism escalate threat level
- 42:36 — Crandall’s later life, pension, Mark Twain’s involvement, and the serendipitous link to Thurgood Marshall
- 47:21 — The ripple effect: Lives and achievements of the students and their descendants
- 54:04 — Reflections on educational legacy as foundation for community advancement
Tone and Takeaways
The conversation is thoughtful, urgent, and celebratory of Black women’s agency, perseverance, and far-reaching impact—combining rigorous scholarship with a genuine excitement for sharing untold stories. It rejects the “white savior” narrative, focusing instead on networks of trust and action across race and gender boundaries. It also draws direct lines from 19th-century struggles to ongoing fights for equity in education and citizenship.
Final Words:
“To be thought of as a successful starting point instead of a failed attempt is so powerful.”
—Mary Donohue [54:04]
Further Information
For book talks, lectures, and more, Dr. Jennifer Risenga’s contact is included in the show notes, and her book can be ordered from University of Illinois Press or your local bookstore.
Episode produced by Mary Donohue. Engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan.