Edward Mitchell was the first student of African descent to attend Dartmouth College. In 1824, students protested the Board of Trustees decision not to admit Mitchell because of his race. The students’ activism was supported by the faculty, the Board relented, and Mitchell took his rightful place in the student body. Born in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, in 1792, he had been a sailor and a porter before coming to Hanover. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1828, was ordained, and moved to Georgeville, Canada, where he found community and his calling in ministry. This exhibit examines the fascinating life of Edward Mitchell from Saint-Pierre, to Dartmouth, to Georgeville.
Dartmouth required evidence that the applicant "sustains a good moral character." "Brother Edward Mitchel is a member in good standing in this Church and is esteemed a person of piety, and promising talents."
Charles Dexter Cleveland 1827, who has been described as "relatively dark for a Caucasian," told the trustees that if skin color was a criterion for admissibility to the college, he might himself be disqualified.
