Prudence Crandall’s Legacy (Driftless Connecticut) - Hardcover

"The doors that opened to schoolchildren all over America in the 1950s and 1960s were in a sense opened with a key supplied by Crandall ... [Williams] relates that it was the arguments of Crandall's attorneys in one of her trials that made it clear that black Americans were citizens--that they could cross state borders to go to Crandall's school, if they wished. And referring specifically to these arguments in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case helped NAACP lawyers win their own argument that African-Americans were entitled to go to the same schools as whites--not 'separate but equal' schools."--Steve Courtney, Hartford Courant "A study of an abolitionist schoolteacher whose efforts to integrate her Canterbury, Connecticut school led to a court case that played a key role in the two landmark Supreme Court decisions."--The Chronicle of Higher Education "The dramatis personae of this book are incredible--nearly all the leading abolitionists, but especially Crandall's ally, William Lloyd Garrison, play important roles. ... A must for all libraries."--P. Harvey, Choice "In fine fashion, Williams captures Prudence Crandall's depth of conviction, her humility, and the legacy of freedom for everyone."--Elizabeth Hohl, Connecticut History Review "The book offers substantive and well-rounded portraits of abolitionists, colonizationists, and opponents of black equality--portraits that really dig beneath the surface to explain the individuals' motivations, weaknesses, politics, and life paths. In that vein, Williams successfully humanizes all of these characters."--Nikki Taylor, The New England Quarterly

Prudence Crandall was a schoolteacher who fought to integrate her school in Canterbury, Connecticut, and educate black women in the early nineteenth century. When Crandall accepted a black woman as a student, she unleashed a storm of controversy that catapulted her to national notoriety, and drew the attention of the most significant pro- and anti-slavery activists of the day. The Connecticut state legislature passed its infamous Black Law in an attempt to close down her school. Arrested and jailed, Crandall's legal legacy had a lasting impact-Crandall v. State was the first full-throated civil rights case in U.S. history. The arguments by attorneys in Crandall played a role in two of the most fateful Supreme Court decisions, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education. In Prudence Crandall's Legacy, author and lawyer Donald E. Williams Jr. marshals a wealth of detail concerning the life and work of Prudence Crandall, her unique role in the fight for civil rights, and her influence on legal arguments for equality in America.