August 3, 1832 - February 7, 1912
Destined to become one of the greatest Negro champions of his
race in the nineteenth century, Edward was born, the third of seven
children, on August 3, 1832 on the then Danish West Indian island of
St. Thomas. "Of ebony hue" he later claimed to be of "pure Negro"
parentage from the Ibo tribe of eastern Nigeria. He was of relatively
privileged class. Both his parents were free and literate. His mother,
Judith, was a school teacher, his father, Romeo, was a tailor. The
family lived in a predominantly Jewish-English speaking neighborhood
of the capital Charlotte Amalie and Edward romped with Jewish boys on
Synagogue Hill. Young Blyden who was destined to be a champion of
racial pride, enjoyed a childhood almost free of discrimination. The
Bleeders were registered members of the integrated Dutch Reform Church
and young Edward was baptized on September 16, 1832; there with eight
sponsors; A. D. Gomez, W. Essaunasson, Andrew Benners, John Welthagen,
Maria De Windt, Mrs. Essaunasson, Charlotte Wilhelmsen. Young Edward
went to the local primary school but was also privately tutored by his
mother.
In 1842 the family left for Porto Bello, Venezuela, where
young Edward who eventually became a linguist of the highest order
first discovered his facility for learning foreign languages. After
two years, by which time he was fluent in Spanish, the family returned
home. The sensitive and intelligent Negro youth noticed that members
of his race in St. Thomas and Venezuela were in slavery and did most
of the menial work. On his return home, he attended school only in the
morning, and in the afternoons, served a five-year apprenticeship as a
tailor.
In 1845 a new and important influence came into Edward's life
when the Reverend John P. Knox, a white American, went to St. Thomas
for reasons of health and to pastor the Dutch Reformed Church. Knox
was impressed with the studious boy, pious son of pious parents, and
became his mentor, encouraging his considerable natural aptitude for
oratory and literature. Mainly because of his close association with
Mr. Knox, young Blyden decided to become a clergyman. His parents were
pleased with his decision and encouraged it.
In May 1850, Edward accompanied Mrs. Knox to the United States
and attempted to enroll in Rutger's Theological College, Knox's alma
mater, but he was refused admission because he was a Negro. Efforts to
get him admitted to two other theological colleges also failed.
Because of increasing discrimination against free Negroes,
young Blyden refused to remain in the United States. The idea of
building a great nation in Africa as told to him by his friends
appealed to him and he willingly accepted an offer from the New
American Colonization Society to pay his passage to Liberia. On
January 26, 1851, after a stormy Atlantic crossing, he arrived safely
in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
In 1851, he entered Alexander High School where he made rapid
progress. In 1853 he became a lay preacher and in 1854 a tutor at his
high school, serving also as principal during Reverend D. A. Wilson's
(principal) absences.
Soon after settling in Liberia he became a correspondent of
the Liberia Herald, an organ of the Government and the only newspaper
in Liberia. In 1855 to 1856 he was appointed editor for a year.
In 1857, Blyden made his first attempt to redeem the Negro
race. He examined and rebutted with cogency the theories which
purported to prove Negro inferiority. He went to the extent of
carefully examining the original Hebrew of Verses 25, 26, 27 of
chapter nine of the Book of Genesis which were commonly cited to prove
that Negroes - the offspring of Ham, were under a divine curse and
that their enslavement was preordained, and offered elaborate proof
that there was no evidence to support the assertion. Blyden firmly
believed that the Negro was , at least, potentially the equal of other
races.
In March 1961, Blyden and Alexander Grummel, a Negro graduate
of Queens College, Cambridge, were commissioned by the Liberian
Government to interest British and American philanthropists in
Liberian education.
When they returned to Liberia they reported that American
Negroes were anxious to emigrate. The Liberian government decided to
act and appointed Blyden, Grummel and J.D. Johnson, commissioners, to
encourage American Negroes to return to their fatherland. But in
Washington he suffered humiliation when he was barred from entering
the House of Representatives because he was a Negro. For five weeks, a
bitter and angry Blyden toured principal cities of the North extending
Liberia's invitation to American Negroes.
During the years 1862 to 1871, Blyden was professor of
classics at Liberia College, while from 1864 to 1866 he was Liberian
Secretary of State. Blyden made eight visits to the United States. He
toured the deep south and other areas which had concentrations of
Negroes, inviting them to visit Liberia.
In 1880 Blyden was offered the president of Liberia College as
well as the position of Minister of the Interior and Secretary of
Education. He accepted both. The offer of the presidency was like a
dream come true. His formal inauguration took place February 5, 1881
and his address was brilliant and purposeful.
His administration came to an end in 1884. Shortly after his
resignation as president of Liberia College, the Republican Party of
Liberia. He accepted the nomination and made plans for the improvement
of Liberia which included attracting foreign investment, while keeping
it under judicious control. The inauguration of a comprehensive
program of education, alliance with islands peoples and the extension
of the President's term to four years. His opponent was Hilary R. W.
Johnson, a haughty, hot-tempered but able and politically astute man.
Johnson won the election easily, since Blyden pledged allegiance to no
one section of the community and thought of himself as a providential
agent.
A few other important dates and events of his life worth
mentioning are:
1887 Publication of his Magnum Opus, Christianity, Islam
and Negro Race
1896 - 1897 Agent pf Native Affairs in Lagos
1900 - 1901 Professor at Liberian College
1901 - 1906 Director of Muhammadan Education in Sierra
Leone
In his later years Blyden alienated himself from the majority
of educated West Africans. During these years he was needy and in poor
health.
In 1909 Blyden suffered the added misfortune of having to
undergo an operation for aneurysm in the knee at the Royal Southern
Hospital, Liverpool where he found himself more penurious than ever.
He died on February 7, 1912.
From the 1870's Blyden had striven to create a consciousness
among West Africans of belongings to one community. He had sought to
do so by emphasizing the need for Africans to unite in order to
improve the lot of Negro race by fostering ethnocentrism and by
bringing about communication and cooperation between Christian and
Muslims. Blyden's ideas have contributed greatly to the historical
roots of African Nationalism., Pan-Africanism and Negritude and have
been a source of inspiration and pride to modern exponents of these
ideas. Although controversial in thought and approaches, Blyden was
one of "the first Negroes to win full recognition in the English-
speaking scholastic and literary world".
Digitization for Access and Preservation
A Collaborative Project of the University of the Virgin Islands
Libraries and the Virgin Islands Division of Libraries, Archives, and
Museums
(Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services)
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