James Dallas Burrus
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James Dallas Burrus (14 October 1846 – 5 December 1928) was an American
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
,
druggist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...
and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
from Tennessee. He and a brother were among the first three graduates of
Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...
, the first African Americans to graduate from a liberal arts college south of the Mason–Dixon line. After completing graduate work in mathematics at Dartmouth College, Burrus became the first professor of mathematics at Fisk University. He later continued his teaching career at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Mississippi.


Life and times

James Dallas Burrus was born into slavery in 1846 at
Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...
, Rutherford County,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, the son of William C. J. Burrus and his enslaved common-law wife, Nancy Burrus. The couple had three
mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
sons: James Dallas Burrus,
John Houston Burrus John Houston Burrus (February 22, 1849 - March 27, 1917) was an educator in Nashville, Tennessee and Lorman, Mississippi. He was a member of the first class of students at Fisk University in Nashville and when that class graduated became among th ...
, and Preston Robert Burrus. William C. J. Burrus (WCJ Burrus) (18 December 1815 – 25 May 1859) was a white planter,
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
, and
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He had a sister Elizabeth Burrus (1802–1850). Their parents were Joseph Burrus (1762–1821) and Sophia Rucker (1775–1835).Editor. (June 1905). James Camp Tappan. ''Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University''. Yale University. Burrus had purchased Nancy at a
slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
auction in Nashville; she was tri-racial, of
mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...
- American Indian ancestry.Richardson, Joe M. (October 1965). "A Negro Success Story: James Dallas Burrus". ''The Journal of Negro History''. 50(4): 274–282. WCJ Burrus died on 25 May 1859, less than two years before the Civil War broke out. He was buried in Burrus Cemetery on his plantation Cherry Lane Acres, Rutherford County, Tennessee. His will provided for his slave wife Nancy to inherit his estate. The courts of Rutherford County did not recognize this provision or the will at all. The estate, including Nancy Burrus and her three sons, became the property of a nephew by marriage, the son-in-law of Burrus's sister.Miller, Uzoma. (March 2006). ''A Guide to the James Dallas Burrus Collection, 1827–1929''. Fisk University Archives. Fisk University. Nashville, Tennessee.


Civil War period

After Burrus's nephew, Colonel
James Camp Tappan James Camp Tappan (September 9, 1825 – March 19, 1906) was an American lawyer from Helena who served as the 31st speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1897 to 1899. A member of the Democratic Party, Tappan previously ser ...
, inherited the four slaves, he took them with him during his service in the
Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
.Wilson, Dwight H. (1 October 1948). "John H. Burrus and His Family". ''Negro History Bulletin''. 12(1): 3, 15. Tappan had married Mary Elizabeth Anderson on 26 June 1854; she was the daughter of Burrus's sister, Elizabeth (Burrus) and her husband Judge Samuel Anderson of Rutherford County, Tennessee. He assigned Nancy Burrus as a
cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...
and the three sons as
man servant A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
s to officers. Tappan fought in campaigns across
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. In 1865, at the end of the Civil War, the Burrus family was in
Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of M ...
with what remained of
Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Weste ...
's
Army of Mississippi There were three formations known as the Army of Mississippi in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. This name is contrasted against Army of the Mississippi, Army of ''the'' Mississippi, which was a Union Army named for the ...
. The
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
of President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
delivered the family into freedom. They made their way to
Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
, then to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, and eventually to
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. In Memphis, James and John were able to find work. Before long the family moved to Nashville. In Nashville, James and John worked as
wait staff Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attendi ...
in hotels and began to save for college.


Training and education

To increase his income, James Burrus began teaching in the primary and secondary schools in
Goodlettsville, Tennessee Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson and Sumner counties, Tennessee. Goodlettsville was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; at the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 15,921 and in 2020 the po ...
and in Arkansas. In 1867, Burrus and his brother John enrolled as part of the first, four-person class at
Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...
. They pursued an academic, classical education. James was to study
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and John would study
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. They needed preparatory classes to supplement their education. In 1875, Fisk University graduated James Burrus,
John Houston Burrus John Houston Burrus (February 22, 1849 - March 27, 1917) was an educator in Nashville, Tennessee and Lorman, Mississippi. He was a member of the first class of students at Fisk University in Nashville and when that class graduated became among th ...
, Virginia Eliza Walker and America W. Robinson as the first class of Fisk University. They were the first blacks or
people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
to earn a bachelor's degree from a liberal arts college south of the
Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...
. Fisk's faculty was then majority-white and most also served as missionaries. Recognizing James' promise, they tried to persuade him to enter the ministry. He chose mathematics instead, and the instructors encouraged Burrus to continue his studies. Robinson and Burrus were engaged for a short period, but during much of this time she was touring in Europe with the
Fisk Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American ''a cappella'' ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditiona ...
. They broke it off by 1878, and he never married. Robinson loaned Burrus money to attend graduate school at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
, where he enrolled in 1877 to study mathematics. In 1879, he was awarded the
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in mathematics. This was the first instance of an African American to receive a master of arts degree in the United States.


Professional career

In May 1881, Burrus accepted an appointment at Fisk University as the first professor of mathematics. In 1882, he received an appointment at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Mississippi as professor of mathematics and superintendent of the college farm.


Philanthropy

Throughout his life, Burrus was a donor to Fisk University. Beginning around 1915, Burrus donated property worth $7,000 to Fisk University. In 1915, a gift of $600 was made. In 1917, James and Preston Burrus together made a contribution to Fisk in the amount of $112 to the Fisk Endowment Fund. An 85-acre farm was given to the school in 1922 by these two brothers. When Fisk University needed funds in 1926 to remove a debt, during a capital campaign the Burrus brothers donated $1,000. Upon James Burrus's death in 1928, his will stipulated that his estate be left to Fisk University. At the time of his death, his estate consisted of 85 houses, and stocks and bonds, valued at over $120,000.


Death

In 1928, Burrus died on a
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
at Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. The certificate of death listed the cause as chronic
myocarditis Myocarditis, also known as inflammatory cardiomyopathy, is an acquired cardiomyopathy due to inflammation of the heart muscle. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain, decreased ability to exercise, and an irregular heartbeat. The ...
and contributory factor as old age. His occupation at the time of death was druggist and he was single.''Tennessee Death Records, 1914–1955''. Database with images, FamilySearch. James D. Burrus, 05 Dec 1928. Citing Greenwood Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, cn 28012. State Library and Archives, Nashville. FHL microfilm 1,876,746. Burrus left $100,000 to
Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...
. The announcement of his death and bequest made the front page of newspapers across the country in the United States.Editor. (1929). James Dallas Burrus. ''Druggist Circular''. Volume 73. Page 52.Editor. (15 December 1928). Tennessee Educator Succumbs. ''Indianapolis Recorder''. Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. Front page.Editor. (2 January 1929). Negro Bachelor of Arts Leaves Estate to Fisk. ''Kingsport Times''. Kingsport, Tennessee. Front page.Editor. (3 January 1929). Negro Leaves Huge Amount to College. ''The San Bernardino County Sun''. San Bernardino, California. 63(125): Front page.Editor. (12 January 1929). James Dallas Burrus. ''The New York Age''. New York, New York. Front Page.Editor. (3 January 1929). $100,000 Given School by Aged Negro. ''The Republic''. Columbus, Indiana. Page 7.


Awards and honors

*Burrus Hall at Fisk University was built from funds bestowed in his will. * Burrus Elementary School in
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
was named in his honor. * Burrus Hall, a female dormitory on the campus of Alcorn State University.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burris, James Dallas 1846 births 1928 deaths People from Murfreesboro, Tennessee African-American educators American people of Native American descent 19th-century American slaves Fisk University alumni Fisk University faculty Dartmouth College alumni Alcorn State University faculty Philanthropists from Tennessee People of Tennessee in the American Civil War People from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century African-American people