1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: show that shines a light on the ups and downs 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: of everyday history. I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: we're reflecting on the untimely death of the Noise Academy, 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: a racially integrated school in pre Civil War New Hampshire 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: that was forced to close by local racist The day 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: was August tenth, eighteen thirty five. A mob of hundreds 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: of white men used a team of oxen to pull 10 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: an integrated schoolhouse off its foundation. Over the next several days, 11 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: the mob proceeded to drag the building more than half 12 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: a mile down the road, eventually leaving it in a 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: swamp just outside the town of Canaan. As one of 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: the first integrated schools in the country, Noise Academy was 15 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: as an early experiment in interracial co education. The school's 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: founders included its namesake, Samuel Noyes, and other open minded 17 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: residents of Canaan, as well as abolitionists from Boston, Portland, 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: and New York. The driving force behind the school was 19 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: George Kimball, a Massachusetts native who had moved to Canaan 20 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty six to practice law. He raised funds 21 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: to open the school, solicited students from throughout New England 22 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: to attend it, and even house some of them in 23 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: his own home. Kimball also outlined the goal of the 24 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: new school to the rest of the town, writing, it 25 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: is unhappily true that the colored portion of our fellow citizens, 26 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: even in the Free States, while their toil and blood 27 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: have contributed to establish and their taxes equally with those 28 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: of whites, to maintain our free system of education, have 29 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: practically been excluded from the benefits of it. This institution 30 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: proposes to restore, so far as it can to this 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: neglection did and injured class the privileges of literary, moral, 32 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: and religious instruction. The proposal was readily endorsed by the 33 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: newly formed New Hampshire Anti Slavery Society and was soon 34 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: promoted in William Lloyd Garrison's popular anti slavery newspaper, The Liberator. 35 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,919 Speaker 1: Kimball and his fellow supporters petitioned the New Hampshire State 36 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: Legislature for a charter to found the school, and on 37 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: July fourth, eighteen thirty four, their request was granted. After 38 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: seven months of preparation, the Noise Academy finally opened its 39 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: doors in March of eighteen thirty five. The inaugural class 40 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: included roughly forty two students, both boys and girls, between 41 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: the ages of fourteen and eighteen twenty. Eight of them 42 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: were white and fourteen were black. The white students were 43 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: mostly local to Canaan, while the black students came from 44 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: all over the Northeast, some from as far away as Philadelphia. 45 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: Their journey to the small New Hampshire town had been 46 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,679 Speaker 1: riddled with indignities. Black passengers were forced to sit on 47 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: the outside of carriages even on cold nights, and anti 48 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: abolitionists in Canaan and neighboring communities had posted signs along 49 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: the road directing students to quote N word town. Once 50 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: they arrived in Canaan, the black students were split into 51 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,559 Speaker 1: small groups and placed under the care of local abolitionists 52 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: and teachers, including George Kimball. The school's first few months 53 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: of operation passed peacefully enough, but in the early summer, 54 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: pro slavery newspapers began stirring up controversy. The New Hampshire Patriot, 55 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: for instance, the New Hampshire Patriot for instance, warned that 56 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: black students were beginning to fraternize with their white peers, 57 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: and that in some cases they were even being waited 58 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: on at home by white servants. Since the establishment of 59 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: the school, the paper reported, it has been no uncommon 60 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: spectacle to witness colored gentlemen walking king arm in arm 61 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: with what ought to be respectable white females. And it 62 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: is said that one of the principal agitators of the 63 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: slave question in this state, George Kimball Esquire, and his 64 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: family sit at table with a half dozen colored people, 65 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: while a white girl attends upon them as servant. Some 66 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: residents of Canaan had opposed Noise Academy from the beginning, 67 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: believing that it would upset the town's social order and 68 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: open the door to interracial romance. The negative reporting of 69 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: The Patriot and other papers stoked those racist fears and 70 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: compelled some members of the public to call for the 71 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: school to be closed. By early July, rumors began to 72 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: circulate that the school would be attacked. Then, on the 73 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: night of July fourth, a large group of anti abolitionists 74 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: marched to the door of the academy. They were met 75 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: there by doctor Timothy Tilton, a town magistrate who had 76 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,559 Speaker 1: elected to spend the night inside the building in case 77 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: the rumors of a riot proved true. Tilton told the 78 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: crowd that they were breaking the law, and then began 79 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: calling out the names of the people he recognized without 80 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,239 Speaker 1: anonymity to shield them from prosecution. The mob backed down, 81 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: and Noy's Academy was left intact. However, the anti abolition 82 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: forces didn't give up that easily. Their next tactic in 83 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: the fight to close the school was to go through 84 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: official channels. They drafted a resolution declaring the academy a 85 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: quote nuisance, and then forced a vote on it at 86 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: the next town meeting. The resolution ultimately passed, though the 87 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: legality of the vote was widely questioned, as the school 88 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: had been chartered by the state and therefore couldn't be closed, 89 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: much less dismantled by a simple community vote. Nonetheless, a 90 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: committee was formed to oversee the school's removal, and one 91 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five dollars in town funds was set 92 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: aside to cover the expense. A few weeks later, on 93 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: August tenth, approximately five hundred men gathered outside Noy's Academy. 94 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: The crowd, led by Ben Porter and Jacob Trussell was 95 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: reportedly in high spirits, with many men visibly intoxicated. An 96 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: article from the Concord Patriot later noted that the mob 97 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: was a who's who of the local community and included 98 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: quote many of the most wealthy and respected farmers of 99 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: this and the adjacent towns. Once again, doctor Tilton tried 100 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: to disperse the mob, but this time the men just 101 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: pushed right past him, claiming that the law was on 102 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: their side. With the opposition out of the way, the 103 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: mob got right to work. First, they smashed the fence 104 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: in front of the school to clear a path for 105 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: the building. Next, they assembled a team of about one 106 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: hundred oxen on the lawn, and then they hitched the 107 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,799 Speaker 1: animals to the schoolhouse and pulled it from its foundation. 108 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: Once their work was done, the drunken mob dispensed with 109 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: its claim to legal authority and made its way to 110 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: the homes of local abolitionists, where black students were known 111 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: to be boarding. The crowd then fired cannons and small 112 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,840 Speaker 1: arms into the houses and warned those inside that they 113 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: had one month to leave town or else. Some abolitionists 114 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: and even a student or two exchanged fire with the mob, 115 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: creating a distraction that allowed George Kimball and others to 116 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: quietly evacuate the rest of the black students. Walls were 117 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: damaged and windows were shattered, but thanks to their quick work, 118 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: no lives were lost that night. It took several more 119 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: days to transport the schoolhouse to its temporary resting place 120 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: and a swamp on the outskirts of town. Then one 121 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: month later, the mob reassembled and hauled the school to 122 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: its new permanent location. After that, there was frequent talk 123 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: of repairing and reopening the school as a white only institution, 124 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: but given the building's fraught history, most residents weren't excited 125 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: by the prospect. Three years later, in eighteen thirty eight, 126 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: the Jound finally started making repairs to the vacant building, 127 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: beginning with the installation of brand new windows. However, the 128 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: school mysteriously caught fire a few months later, and no 129 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: one even tried to extinguish it. The people responsible for 130 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: Noy's Academy's destruction were never charged with a crime, and 131 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: most maintained they had done nothing wrong. One of the ringleaders, 132 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: Ben Porter, did allegedly apologize to Henry Highland Garnet several 133 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: years after the school's destruction, but his partner in crime, 134 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: Jacob Trussell, never showed any sign of remorse. In fact, 135 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: he even got the Canaan town meeting to agree to 136 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: defend him against any legal claims that might arise from 137 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: his role in the incident. Trussell may have gotten a 138 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: free pass from the town itself, but his church was 139 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: far less forgiving. In eighteen thirty nine, the Congressional Church 140 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: of Canaan excommunicated him and made it known far and 141 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: wide that through his actions he had set himself against 142 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: his fellow man and against his God. As for the 143 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,199 Speaker 1: black students who'd been driven out of Canaan, many were 144 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: able to enroll in other inter racial institutions. For example, 145 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: Henry Highland Garnett, Julia Williams, and Alexander Crummell all completed 146 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: their education at the Oneida Institute, a trade school in 147 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: New York to which black and white students were admitted equally. 148 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: Garnett and Williams later married, and both went on to 149 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,959 Speaker 1: prominent roles in the abolition movement, as did several of 150 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: their fellow Noise students, including Thomas Paul Junior, Alexander Crummell, 151 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: and Thomas Sidney in eighteen sixty five. Garnett also became 152 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: the first black minister to deliver a sermon to Congress, preaching, 153 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: as you might expect, on the immorality of slavery. The 154 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: story of Ney's Academy is a sad reminder that there 155 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: will always be some jerk with a team of oxen 156 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: trying to halt the progress of people who don't look 157 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: or act like they do. But the allyship of the 158 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: Canaan abolitionists and the resilience of the school's students are 159 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: also a powerful reminder of just what to do in 160 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: such circumstances. Shake the dust off your heels and keep 161 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: right on moving forward. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you 162 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 163 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: did yesterday. You can learn even more about history by 164 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, 165 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions you'd like 166 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: to pass along, feel free to do so by writing 167 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler 168 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,439 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 169 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 170 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: in history class