Rev. Angus Augustus Burleigh (c. 1845–1938), commonly known as A. A. Burleigh, was an American A.M.E. minister, teacher, and soldier. He was formerly enslaved, fought in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, and was the first African American adult to attend and graduate in 1875 from

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. It was integrated from as early as 1866 ...

in Kentucky.

Early life

Angus Augustus Burleigh was born in c. 1845, however the records of his birth have conflicting dates and locations according to the

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

. Many sources suggest he may have been born at sea. He was the son of Carlotta De Dasco, an African American woman who had been enslaved, from

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, Florida; and Charles A. Burleigh, an English sea captain. Burleigh was abducted and enslaved in Virginia after his father's death in his early childhood. He is thought to have escaped in 1864, from a farm in Anderson County, Kentucky.

Career

Civil war

On August 22, 1864, during the American Civil War, he enlisted as a private at Camp Nelson in Kentucky. He joined the 12th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment, company G. On November 2, 1865, Burleigh was promoted to the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

, before his discharge on April 24, 1866.

Berea College

Burleigh had met

John Gregg Fee John Gregg Fee (September 9, 1816 – January 11, 1901) was an abolitionist, minister and educator, as well as the founder of the town of Berea, Kentucky. He established The Church of Christ, Union in Berea (1853), Berea College (1855), the fir ...

at Camp Nelson. Fee was the founder of Berea College, and invited Burleigh to attend classes and enroll as a student. He was the first African American adult to attend Berea College, which caused an exodus of many white students. In 1875, Burleigh was the first African American graduate from the school.

A.M.E. Church

He became a minister of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

, and held pastorship in many locations nationally, including in San Francisco in 1906 at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Other places of his residence included

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in New York City;

Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Santa Mo ...

, California; Quincy, Illinois; Bloomington, Indiana; and

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Death

Burleigh died on May 24, 1938, at a veterans hospital in Los Angeles, and is buried at

Los Angeles National Cemetery The Los Angeles National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the Sawtelle, Los Angeles, Sawtelle unincorporated community of the West Los Angeles neighborhood in Los Angeles County, California. Geography The entrance to the cemeter ...

. Hasan Davis' ''Angus Augustus Burleigh:'' ''The Long Climb to Freedom'' (1997) is a stage performance about Burleigh's life.

References

External links

* Video:
Angus Augustus Burleigh: Long Climb to Freedom
' (2016) by Hasan Davis, via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burleigh, A. A. 1840s births 1938 deaths Date of birth uncertain 19th-century African-American educators 19th-century American clergy 19th-century American educators 19th-century American slaves Activists for African-American civil rights African Americans in the American Civil War African-American Methodist clergy African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy American Methodist clergy Berea College alumni Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery Place of birth unknown People from Anderson County, Kentucky