Alexander Crummell – Priest 1898 – Mark Winward
Today the Episcopal Church commemorates the Rev. Alexander Crummell, who served faithfully as a priest, missionary, and educator. Born in New York in 1819 to African American parents—his mother freeborn and his father a former slave—Crummell was raised in a household committed to abolitionism. Although he came from an affluent family, he faced numerous struggles in his pursuit of education. While enrolled at Noyes Academy, a racially integrated and unusually progressive high school in New Hampshire, a white mob of several hundred men destroyed the institution by dragging the school building—some accounts say with oxen—into a swamp! This violent act closed the academy and expelled Crummell and his Black classmates. Later, when he sought ordination, the Diocese of New York rejected him for Holy Orders and he was denied admission to General Theological Seminary purely on the basis of his race.
Undeterred, Crummell prepared privately for ordination under the guidance of clergy in Providence and Boston—and also audited lectures at Yale Theological Seminary. His persistence bore fruit: he was ordained a deacon in March 1842 and a priest in November 1844. Yet even then, he was forbidden to attend the Diocese of Massachusetts convention. In 1849, he journeyed to England to study at Queens’ College, Cambridge University, where he also preached against slavery, proclaiming that the universality of the Gospel was the answer to racism. In 1852, after earning his degree in classics and theology, he traveled to Liberia where he would serve as a missionary for the next 20 years.
Liberia, a former colony of American slaves on Africa’s west coast, became the focus of Crummell’s vision. He sought to establish a Christian republic that would demonstrate Black capacity for self-rule and cultural leadership. He believed Liberia could serve as the center of African revival, where Western-educated Black leaders would guide the continent’s moral and cultural rebirth through Christianity and civilization. There he founded schools, promoted higher education, and delivered influential sermons on Pan-African nationalism, teaching that people of African descent worldwide shared a common destiny tied to Africa.
Crummell’s efforts, however, met with mixed success. His attempts to strengthen Anglicanism in Liberia failed to take deep root, and his schools did not endure as lasting institutions. Part of this stemmed from his criticism of Liberia’s ruling elite for corruption and lack of discipline, which limited his political influence. Nevertheless, his writings on African redemption, moral leadership, and the destiny of Black people profoundly shaped later generations and turned many hearts to Christ.
In 1873, Crummell returned to the United States, where he founded numerous African American congregations in the National Capital Region. He also taught at Howard University and fought tirelessly for equal Black representation within the Episcopal Church. Up until the end of his life, he held fast to the conviction that true equality for Africans—and true unity for humanity—could only be found under the banner of Jesus Christ. He died on September 10, 1898, and in 1979 was officially recognized for his contributions to the Church, racial equality, and a Pan-African vision.
We remember Crummell to this day because he continues to inspire people of all races. At every stage of his life he faced rejection—barred from seminary, excluded from white institutions, resisted in Liberia, and marginalized in America. Yet he refused to yield to bitterness, instead finding alternate paths and persevering with tenacity. He believed education was the key to upward mobility—not just for individual advancement but for the transformation of communities and nations. His founding of the American Negro Academy sought to empower Black scholars to define their own history and culture, inspiring future generations. His vision of Pan-Africanism, though ahead of its time, planted seeds that later blossomed into movements for African independence and global Black solidarity. Crummell’s life serves as an inspirational lesson in resilience amidst adversity, the power of education, the necessity of global solidarity, the courage of moral integrity, and the patience of long-term vision. His story reminds us that real change often comes slowly, but it begins with those willing to trust God, hold fast to their vision, and labor faithfully even when success seems like a distant dream.