TITLE: Reverend Samuel Carruthers Alexander
COVERAGE: Founder 1867
DESCRIPTION: The History of Johnson C. Smith University Collection focuses on the history and founding fathers of the university. Henry J. Biddle Memorial Institute was established on April 7, 1867 with Reverend Samuel C. Alexander as the director and Reverend Willis L. Miller as the associate director and field agent. The first school session commenced on May 1, 1867 with an enrollment of five to ten students.
TYPE: Photograph
PHOTOGRAPH DATE: Unknown
CREATOR: Inez Moore Parker Archives and Research Center
ACQUISITION DATE: June 2000
PROCESSED BY: Monika Rivera Rhue
HISTORICAL NOTE: Reverend Samuel Carruthers Alexander was born in Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Jefferson College in 1858 and Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina in 1861 with an A. B. degree. Reverend Alexander was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Charleston, South Carolina in 1860, and ordained by the Presbytery of Concord, North Carolina in 1861.
During his ministry, Reverend S. C. Alexander became acquainted with the Negroes of his church and invited them to worship in his house. Reverend Alexander received a commission from the Northern Presbyterian Church to establish a parochial school to educate former slaves. Gradually the school expanded into the Henry J. Biddle Memorial Institute, a collegiate and theological school for the education of Negro preachers and teachers.
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