Orishatukeh Faduma
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Orishatukeh Faduma (September 15, 1855 – January 25, 1946) was a British Guiana-born
Nigerian-American Nigerian Americans (; ; ) are Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigrants residing in the United States is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000. The 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) ...
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
and educator, who was also an advocate for African culture. He contributed to laying the foundation for the future development of
African studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's History of Africa, history (pre-colonial, Colonisation of Af ...
.


Early life

Faduma was born to John and Omolofi Faduma in
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
(now Guyana), both
repatriated Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...
Yoruba recaptives. His parents were on the verge of being sold as
slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
when the
British navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
recaptured them in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. His family moved to
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
when he was seven years old. He was soon baptized thereafter and given the Christian name "William James Davis" by which he was known until 1887 when he changed it to his native Yoruba name "Orishatukeh Faduma".


Education and career

Faduma attended Wesleyan boys high school. He lived with the principal of the school, reverend Claudius May (1845-1902) who inspired his lifelong interest in education and teaching. After graduating, Faduma continued to work at the school as an assistant teacher. Faduma attended the Christian schools at the time; Methodist Boys High School. Faduma travelled to England for further studies and was the first West African student to earn a B.A. from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 1884. After studying in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Faduma returned to Sierra Leone to teach for some time. From 1885 till 1891, he was senior master at the Methodist Boys High School. It was during this period in 1887 that he formed an association called Dress Reform society with other members of the
Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
community including Dr. Edward Blyden and A. E. Tobuku-Metzger. The society was aimed to foster the wearing of African robes in lieu of the Victorian coat imposed by westerners and creoles. In 1891, he returned to the United States to further his education as one of the few African to do so. He was the first African student to enrol at
Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...
after obtaining a scholarship of $400 at the time to study philosophy and religion. He earned a bachelor's degree at Yale University. In 1894, he continued his postgraduate studies at
Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...
until his graduation in 1895. He lived in the United States thereafter and became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in 1902. From 1891 to 1895, he was affiliated with the
American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...
. He was also affiliated with 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 ...
as a minister. From 1895 till 1914, he was appointed as principal and pastor-in charge of Peabody Academy, Troy, North Carolina which was established in 1880 for the education of African Americans. In 1892, Faduma served on the Advisory Council on African Ethnology at the World's Exposition in Chicago. In 1894 he was a Yale delegate to the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance meeting held in Rochester, New York where he delivered a paper on "Industrial Missions in Africa." In 1895, he attended a missionary congress in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, where he presented two papers, one on
Yoruba religion The Yorùbá religion (Yoruba language, Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), West African Orisa (Òrìṣà), or Isese (Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in pres ...
and the other on missionary work in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, about the same period of the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, where
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...
, the main spokesman for black Americans at that time, made his landmark "
Atlanta Compromise The Atlanta Compromise was Atlanta Exposition Speech, a proposal put forth in 1895 by prominent African American leader Booker T. Washington. His proposal called for Black Southerners, Southern blacks to accept segregation and to temporarily ...
" speech. Faduma became a member of the
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
–based
American Negro Academy The American Negro Academy (ANA), founded in Washington, D.C., in 1897, was the first organization in the United States to support African-American academic scholarship. It operated until 1928,Smith and encouraged African Americans to undertake cla ...
, a forum established in 1904 by prominent African-American intellectuals to voice their opinions regarding the welfare of blacks. Faduma was the only African to address the Academy, with his subject titled "The Defects of the Negro Church." After returning to Sierra Leone in 1918, he was appointed as principal of the United Methodist Collegiate School from 1916 to 1918. From 1918 till 1923, he was inspector, instructor and officer-in-charge of the model school. In 1924, Faduma returned to the United States and remained teaching until 1939. He was assistant principal and instructor in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, ancient and modern history and English Literature at Lincoln Academy, Kings Mountain. He made it compulsory for women to acquire sewing and culinary skills prior to graduation. Afterwards, Peabody and Lincoln ceased to function. In 1923, Faduma was also assigned to teach at the Virginia Theological Seminary and College, Lynchburg.


Personal life

In September 1895, he married one of the teachers at the Peabody Academy, Henrietta Adams. They had two children named Omojowu, born in 1902, and Du Bois, born in 1922, who was most likely named after the American scholar and civil rights activist,
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...
. Faduma died in 1946 and was buried in
High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...
.


Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faduma, Orishatukeh 1855 births 1946 deaths 19th-century African-American educators 19th-century American educators 19th-century American Methodist ministers 20th-century African-American educators 20th-century American educators 20th-century Methodist ministers African-American history of North Carolina African-American missionaries African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy Alumni of the University of London American Africanists American Methodist missionaries American people of Yoruba descent Classics educators Guyanese Africanists Guyanese emigrants to the United States Guyanese Methodists Guyanese people of Yoruba descent Methodist missionaries in Sierra Leone Naturalized citizens of the United States Sierra Leonean people of Yoruba descent Yale Divinity School alumni Yoruba-American history Yoruba academics Yoruba educators Yoruba Christian clergy