County of Memorial: Elk County
Location of memorial: US 160 & Osage St., roadside park, Elk Falls
Memorial erected by: Kansas Historical Society and Kansas Department of Transportation
Marker text:
PRUDENCE CRANDALL
In 1831, Prudence Crandall, educator, emancipator, and human rights advocate,
established a school which in 1833, became the first black female academy in New England at Canterbury, Connecticut. This later action resulted in her arrest and imprisonment for violating the "Black Law".
Although she was later released on a technicality, the school was forced to close after being harassed and attacked by a mob. She moved with her husband Calvin Philleo to Illinois.
After her husband died in 1874, she and her brother moved to a farm near Elk Falls. Prudence taught throughout her long life and was an outspoken champion for equality for education and the rights of women. In 1886, supported by Mark Twain and others, an annuity was granted to her by the Connecticut Legislature. She purchased a house in Elk Falls where she died January 27, 1890.
Over a hundred years later, legal arguments used by her trial attorneys were submitted to the Supreme Court during their consideration of the historic civil rights case of Brown vs Topeka Board of Education.
Marker erected here by the State of Connecticut:
Memorial Text: The State of Connecticut proudly joins the State of Kansas in honoring the lifetime achievements of Prudence Crandall, educator and champion of human rights. Crandall's courage and determination serve as examples to all who face seemingly insurmountable odds and to those who refuse to be limited by social conventions. To this day, her efforts to promote equality in education remain unequaled.
The building which houses Crandall's Academy in Canterbury, Connecticut, opened as a museum in 1984 and is administered by the Connecticut Historical Commission. The museum's national importance was recognized in 1991 when it was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
This plaque was made possible through the generous donations of citizens of the State of Connecticut.
"On May 24, 1833, the Connecticut legislature passed the "Black Law", which prohibited a school with African American students from outside the state without the town's permission" ~ Wikipedia
A more detailed account can be found on Wikipedia and you can check out the TV movie She Stood Alone released in 1991