Richard Robert Wright Sr. (May 16, 1855 – July 2, 1947) was an American military officer, educator and college president, politician, civil rights advocate and banking entrepreneur. Among his many accomplishments, he founded a high school, a college, and a bank. He also founded the National Freedom Day Association in 1941.

Early life and education

Wright was born into slavery on May 16, 1855, in a log cabin six miles from Dalton, Georgia. After emancipation in 1865, Wright's mother moved with her son from Dalton to Cuthbert, Georgia. He attended the Storrs School, which developed by the late 1870s as Atlanta University, a

historically black college or university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

(HBCU). (Today it is known as

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Found ...

, following a merger). The school had a reputation among freedmen as a place for their children to be educated. While visiting the school, retired Union General Oliver Otis Howard asked students what message he should take to the North. The young Wright reportedly told him, "Sir, tell them we are rising." That exchange inspired a once-famous poem by

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

, " Howard at Atlanta". The Storrs School, a forerunner of Atlanta University, was one of many academic schools for freedmen's children founded by the

American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...

(AMA) in the South. Wright was valedictorian at Atlanta University's first commencement ceremony in 1876.

Career

Republican politics

Wright joined the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

and became active in its politics. Blacks worked to resist white Democratic efforts to disrupt their organizing and suppress their votes. There were also tensions within the party. In 1890, Emanuel K. Love and Wright were in a dispute with William White, Judson Lyons,

Henry A. Rucker Henry Allen Rucker (November 14, 1852—May 11, 1924) was an African American entrepreneur and politician. He was born into slavery. A good mother was credited for helping him achieve success as he was, “like steel” tempered amidst the “awfu ...

, and especially John H. Deveaux, who was in control of Georgia's Republic Party machinery. At the time, the party was dominated by African Americans. The dispute centered around leadership of the party district nomination conventions. Lyons, Rucker, and Deveaux were all supported by patronage of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

of the Tuskegee Institute. They were identified with light-skinned elites of the state, some of whose families had been

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

, free for generations before the Civil War. Love, Wright (and Charles T. Walker) represented a "black" or "darker-skinned" faction. Skin color and assumptions about economic class were not as important as political allegiance and ideology. In 1896, Alfred Eliab Buck was the leader of the Georgia Republican Party. Buck was the president of the Republican State Convention in late April and presided over the election of delegates to the

1896 Republican National Convention The 1896 Republican National Convention was held in a temporary structure south of the St. Louis City Hall in Saint Louis, Missouri, from June 16 to June 18, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for president on the firs ...

. When dispute arose, Buck attempted to preempt by passing a "harmony" slate of delegates outside of standard procedure. However, the slate did not include Wright, who had widespread support among party members. When the convention erupted in protest, a representative of Buck's tried to adjourn the meeting, and the Buck faction left the hall. The Wright faction remained. Wright's friend, Emanuel K. Love, took the chair. A new slate of delegates was elected, including Love and Buck (but not Wright).Shadgett, Olive Hall. ''The Republican Party in Georgia: From Reconstruction Through 1900.'' University of Georgia Press, 2010. pp. 133-134 Wright never did win a seat as a delegate, but he attended the national party convention as an alternate.''Republican national convention, St. Louis, June 16th to 18th, 1896.'' With a history of the Republican party and a survey of national politics since the party's foundation, etc., etc., Republican National Convention (11th : 1896 : Saint Louis, Mo.), page 179, accessed October 17, 2016 at https://archive.org/stream/republicannation00repurich#page/178/mode/2up

Military career

In August 1898, President William McKinley appointed Wright as a major and paymaster of United States Volunteers in the United States Army. He was the first African American to serve as a U.S. Army paymaster. During the Spanish–American War, he was the highest-ranking African-American officer. He was honorably discharged in December of the same year.

Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth

The Second

Morrill Land Grant Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...

of August 30, 1890 provided more land-grant funding to states, but also established federal oversight. It required that southern and border states, which had segregated public schools, develop land grant colleges for black students, in order to receive any funds under this program. Georgia was among the several states that had not done so. On November 26, 1890 the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

passed legislation creating the Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth. In 1891, Wright was appointed as the first president of the Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth, the first public historically black college (HBCU) in the state. By October 1891, it was having classes in Savannah, Georgia, which became its permanent home. It started with five faculty and eight students, but rapidly attracted more. It has since developed as Savannah State University, the oldest public HBCU in the state. During the 1890s, Wright traveled to other colleges, including Tuskegee Institute, Hampton Institute, Girard College of Philadelphia, and the Hirsch School in New York, to document current trends in higher education. Based on his studies, he developed a curriculum at Georgia State College to include elements of the seven classical liberal arts, the " Talented Tenth" philosophy of

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

;

’s vocational emphasis and self-reliance concepts, and the educational model of New England colleges. (He had graduated from Atlanta University, and was taught by graduates of Dartmouth College and Yale University). Wright was viewed as one of the leading figures of black higher education in America, and he conferred regularly with major educational leaders. Visitors and lecturers to campus during his tenure as president included Mary McLeod Bethune,

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the ea ...

Walter Barnard Hill Walter Barnard Hill (September 5, 1851 – December 28, 1905) was chancellor of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens from 1899 until his death in 1905 (The head of the university was referred to as chancellor instead of president, from 1860 u ...

, Lucy Craft Laney,

Mary Church Terrell Mary Church Terrell (born Mary Eliza Church; September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954) was one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree, and became known as a national activist for civil rights and suffrage. She taught in the Lati ...

and Monroe Nathan Work. U.S. presidents William McKinley and William Howard Taft also visited the campus and spoke to students in Peter W. Meldrim Hall. By the end of Wright's tenure as president, the college's enrollment had increased from the original eight students to more than 400. Additionally, he expanded the curriculum to include a normal division (for teacher training), and courses in agriculture and mechanical arts. He also provided four-year high school subjects, to prepare students who came from areas without such facilities, as did many blacks from rural Georgia. Wright participated in the March 5, 1897 meeting to celebrate the memory of Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and public intellectual. The group founded the American Negro Academy, led by

Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was a pioneering African-American minister, academic and African nationalist. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money ...

. From the founding of the organization until 1902, Wright remained active among the scholars, editors, and activists of this first major African-American learned society. Their work refuted racist scholarship, promoted black claims to individual, social, and political equality, and published the history and sociology of African-American life.

Banker

After moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1921 Wright decided to open a bank. At the age of 67 he enrolled in the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania to prepare for this venture. He entered the business world in 1921, creating and leading Philadelphia's Citizens and Southern Bank and Trust Company at 1849 South Street. At the time, it was the only African-American-owned bank in the North and the first African-American trust company. He also founded the Negro Bankers Association, the first African-American banking association. Under his leadership, the bank withstood the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. When it was sold in 1957, more than a decade after Wright's death, it had assets of $5.5 million.

Personal life

Wright married Lydia Elizabeth (née Howard). Together the couple had nine children, including

Richard R. Wright Jr. Richard Robert Wright Jr. (April 16, 1878 in Cuthbert, Georgia – December 12, 1967) was an American sociologist, social worker, and minister. In 1911, Wright became the first African American to earn a doctorate in sociology from an organized ...

He followed his father into an academic career.

Legacy

Civil rights leader

Richard Wright wrote a landmark letter to President Harry Truman describing the horrible mistreatment of

Isaac Woodard Isaac Woodard Jr. (March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an American soldier and victim of racial violence. An African-American World War II veteran, on February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, ...

, a Black veteran who was severely beaten by white policemen. They also gouged his eyes out. As a result of this letter and advocacy by the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

about the case, President Truman asked his Attorney General Tom Clark to investigate. Clark brought a federal case against the police and sheriff who abused Woodard, but the all-white jury acquitted them. (Note: Georgia had passed an amendment in 1908 that essentially disenfranchised black voters; this absence from the voter rolls also resulted in their being excluded from juries.) Wright and others, including White liberals, were outraged and advocated for a federal civil rights commission. Agreeing with this, Truman formed a Committee on Civil Rights. It made far-reaching and prescient recommendations, including that there should be a permanent Civil Rights division of the Justice Department and that the entire Executive branch of the federal government should be desegregated. Some agencies had established segregation in their facilities in the early 20th century under President Woodrow Wilson, who was influenced by his own background in the South and Southern members of his cabinet. The military was still segregated, although Blacks and other minorities had been arguing since World War I to end this, especially during World War II. As a result, Truman was the President who ordered desegregation of all branches of the military. The US military has remained desegregated ever since.

Family legacy

In June 1898, his son

received the first baccalaureate degree awarded by Georgia State Industrial College. Wright Jr. was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, having studied in the new field of sociology. He became a professor and later president of Wilberforce University in Ohio. He also was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the US. Wright Jr. became a bishop in the AME Church. One of Richard Jr's daughters, Dr. Ruth Wright Hayre, also earned a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. They were the first African-American father and daughter to do so. Dr. Ruth Wright Hayre became the first full-time African-American teacher in the Philadelphia public-school system. She rose to become an administrator and high-school principal. After being elected to the Philadelphia Board of Education, she served as its first female president. At the age of 80, she established the " Tell Them We Are Rising" program, promising to pay college tuition for 116 sixth-graders in two poor North Philadelphia schools if they completed high school. Her story was chronicled in her book ''Tell Them We Are Rising: A Memoir of Faith in Education'', published in 1997, the year before she died.

National Freedom Day

In 1941, Wright invited national and local leaders to meet in Philadelphia to formulate plans to set aside February 1 each year to memorialize the signing of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by President Abraham Lincoln on February 1, 1865, which freed all U.S. slaves. They formed the National Freedom Day Association. One year after Wright's death in 1947, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a bill to make February 1

National Freedom Day National Freedom Day is a United States observance on February 1 honoring the signing by President Abraham Lincoln of a joint House and Senate resolution that later was ratified as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. President Lincoln sig ...

. The holiday proclamation was signed into law on June 30, 1948, by President Harry Truman. It was the forerunner to Black History Day and later Black History Month, officially recognized in 1976, though begun by Carter G. Woodson in 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Richard R. Presidents of Savannah State University 1855 births 1947 deaths African-American United States Army personnel United States Army officers American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Clark Atlanta University alumni People from Whitfield County, Georgia People from Cuthbert, Georgia