Emlen Institution for the Benefit of Children of African and Indian Descent was an agricultural and industrial boarding school for African American and Native American Children in the United States. It was established in a

bequest A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...

by Samuel Powers Emlen Jr., a prominent Quaker who lived in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a City (New Jersey), city situated on the banks of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the c ...

who died in 1837. Emlen left $20,000 for the "education, maintenance and instruction in school learning and in agriculture and mechanical trades or arts, of free male orphan children of African or Indian descent." It was established in Ohio with the acquisition of an existing manual labor school for African Americans in

Carthagena, Ohio Carthagena ( ) is an unincorporated community in Mercer County, Ohio, United States. Established by African Americans, it was home to an agricultural and industrial boarding school for African American and Indian orphans. It is located at and h ...

before relocating to Pennsylvania. It is unclear when it ceased operating. Several buildings from one of its locations in Pennsylvania are extant.

History

Emlen's trustees in 1838 were Philip Physick, William Smith, Dr. H.L. Hodge, Daniel B. Smith, William White, Nathaniel Chauncey, Dr. Casper Morris and Dr. William Shippen. Emlen Institution succeeded a manual labor school for African Americans in

run by Augustus Wattles and his wife Susan Perley Wattles. They sold their property to the trustees of Emlen's estate in 1841, and continued on as superintendents. Facing bigoted discrimination from Democrats, Wattles departed in 1857 the school property was sold. The boarding school relocated to

Solebury, Pennsylvania Solebury is an unincorporated community in Solebury Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Solebury is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 263 Pennsylvania Route 263 (PA 263) is a north–south st ...

where it remained until 1873 when it was relocated again to

Warminster Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021. The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...

. Samuel Beecher Hart, captain of the "Gray Invincibles" and a state legislator who proposed successful legislation for a monument to Pennsylvania's African American soldiers was an alumnus. In 1881 the Israel H. Johnson the secretary of its board of trustees wrote in support of transferring six

Quapaw Nation The Quapaw ( , Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or “Downstream” people, their ancestral homelands are traced from what is n ...

students from the Emlen Institute to the

Carlisle Indian School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Native American boarding schools, Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 t ...

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

has a collection of documents from the school in its Quaker collection. St. Charles Seminary purchased its property in Ohio.

References

{{Reflist Defunct schools in Pennsylvania 1830s establishments in Ohio Educational institutions established in the 1830s Quaker schools in Ohio Quaker schools in Pennsylvania Education in Mercer County, Ohio