Emlen Institution for the Benefit of Children of African and Indian Descent was an agricultural and industrial boarding school for African American and Native American Children in the United States. It was established in a

bequest A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...

by Samuel Powers Emlen Jr., a prominent Quaker who lived in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...

who died in 1837. Emlen left $20,000 for the "education, maintenance and instruction in school learning and in agriculture and mechanical trades or arts, of free male orphan children of African or Indian descent." It was established in Ohio with the acquisition of an existing manual labor school for African Americans in

Carthagena, Ohio Carthagena is an unincorporated community in Mercer County, Ohio, United States. It has an elevation of and is located at . History Carthagena was laid out in 1840. It is named after Cartagena, a city in the south-east of Spain. The village w ...

before relocating to Pennsylvania. It is unclear when it ceased operating. Several buildings from one of its locations in Pennsylvania are extant.

History

Emlen's trustees in 1838 were Philip Physick, William Smith, Dr. H.L. Hodge, Daniel B. Smith, William White, Nathaniel Chauncey, Dr. Casper Morris and Dr. William Shippen. Emlen Institution succeeded a manual labor school for African Americans in

run by Augustus Wattles and his wife Susan Perley Wattles. They sold their property to the trustees of Emlen's estate in 1841, and continued on as superintendents. Facing bigoted discrimination from Democrats, Wattles departed in 1857 the school property was sold. The boarding school relocated to

Solebury, Pennsylvania Solebury is an unincorporated community in Solebury Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Solebury is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 263 Pennsylvania Route 263 (PA 263) is a north–south stat ...

where it remained until 1873 when it was relocated again to

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

. Samuel Beecher Hart, captain of the "Gray Invincibles" and a state legislator who proposed successful legislation for a monument to Pennsylvania's African American soldiers was an alumnus. In 1881 the Israel H. Johnson the secretary of its board of trustees wrote in support of transferring six

Quapaw Nation The Quapaw ( ; or Arkansas and Ugahxpa) people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in what is known as the Midwest and Ohio Valley of the present-day United States. The Dhegiha Siouan-speaking tribe historically migrated from the Oh ...

students from the Emlen Institute to the

Carlisle Indian School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisle ...

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

has a collection of documents from the school in its Quaker collection. St. Charles Seminary purchased its property in Ohio.

References

{{Reflist Defunct schools in Pennsylvania 1830s establishments in Ohio Educational institutions established in the 1830s Quaker schools in Ohio Quaker schools in Pennsylvania Education in Mercer County, Ohio