Martin Henry Freeman

Martin Freeman, born in Rutland, became the first black college president in the United States and was a member of the second East Parish Congregational Church, which stood on this site. He was prepared by Pastor William Mitchell for Middlebury College and graduated in 1849 as salutatorian. In 1850, Freeman was appointed professor at Allegheny Institute, later Avery College, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There he gained renown in the fields of science and mathematics. In 1856, Freeman advanced to the office of college president, the first black person in the country to achieve this position. Freeman became active in the American emigration movement and moved his family to Africa in 1864. For many years he was professor at Liberia College and became its president shortly before his death in 1889.

Rutland, Vermont · United States