William David Chappelle (November 16, 1857 – June 15, 1925) was an American educationalist and bishop of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

. Chappelle served as president of

Allen University Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as All ...

, a

historically Black 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 ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, from 1897 to 1899 and served as the chairman of its board of trustees from 1916 to 1925.

Early life

Chappelle was born enslaved in 1857 in

Winnsboro, South Carolina Winnsboro is a town in Fairfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,550 at the 2010 census. The population was 3,215 at the 2020 census. A population decrease of approximately 9.5% for the same 10 year period. It is the c ...

, one of the eleven children of Henry and Patsy McCory Chappelle.

Career

On March 13, 1918, Bishop Chappelle led a delegation from the bishops' council of the

to meet Democratic President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. The delegation came to protest the mounting wave of anti-black violence and hysteria accompanying the Great Migration, including numerous lynchings and other mob violence. Wilson took no action.

Family and legacy

After the death of his first wife, he married Rosina C. Palmer (also recorded as Rosena C. Palmer), who had contributed an essay as a young woman to what the Library of Congress describes as "a collection of essays by African American authors designed to encourage diligence, temperance, and religion among young African Americans." His father-in-law was

Robert John Palmer Robert John Palmer (born January 18, 1849 – May 12, 1928) (there are multiple reported birth and death dates all within the same month) was a tailor and politician born into slavery in South Carolina. Palmer was a state representative from 1876 ...

, one of South Carolina's black legislators during the Reconstruction era. One of his sons, W. D. Chappelle, Jr., was a physician and surgeon who opened the People's Infirmary around 1915, a small hospital and surgery practice in Columbia, South Carolina during a time when segregation prevented many African Americans from having access to healthcare. His great-grandson is stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle, and his grandson was William David Chappelle III.

References

Attribution

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chappelle, William D. 1857 births 1925 deaths American Methodist Episcopal bishops Presidents of Allen University People from Winnsboro, South Carolina Activists from California African-American activists African-American religious leaders