[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E932-E933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        LIFE OF GEORGE B. VASHON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 25, 2010

  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate an exciting 
event that occurred this month bringing long overdue recognition to an 
accomplished African American: George B. Vashon. Growing up in St. 
Louis, I learned of Mr. Vashon's legacy as my high school was dedicated 
to him as he was a person who committed his life to help educate 
countless African Americans. While George Vashon himself never lived in 
St. Louis, his widow relocated to the city after his death and raised 
their family in Missouri. Vashon High School was named in 1927 and is 
one of the few monuments to a man who was a distinguished educator, 
lawyer, abolitionist, and poet who lived from 1824 to 1878.
  Mr. Vashon's life was one full of numerous ``firsts.'' Raised in 
Pittsburgh by parents who

[[Page E933]]

were leaders in the anti-slavery efforts there, he was the first 
African American to graduate from Oberlin College. He studied law under 
the Honorable Judge Walter Forward in Pennsylvania and applied for 
admission to the Pennsylvania bar in 1847 and again in 1868. Both 
times, he was denied admission because of his ``negro descent.'' Not to 
be held back, Mr. Vashon went to New York to take the bar and became 
the first black lawyer in that state. He later went on to be the first 
African American in New York to run for public office when he was a 
candidate under the Progressive Party for Attorney General. A close 
friend and associate of Frederick Douglass, Mr. Vashon penned many 
columns for Douglass' paper, The North Star.
  George Vashon was one of the first black college professors in this 
country, a founder and the first black professor at Howard University 
and was president of Avery College in Pennsylvania. As an abolitionist, 
he also led many anti-slavery conventions and was central in the 
lobbying efforts to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the 
Constitution. For years he was active in helping escaped slaves find 
freedom on the Underground Railroad when they made their way through 
Pennsylvania and New York.
  Despite his many contributions and achievements, Mr. Vashon 
encountered discrimination and barriers to achievement. Being denied 
entrance into legal practice in his native Pennsylvania was a deep 
disappointment for him and a terrible injustice. I was thrilled, 
however, to hear recently that after two of his descendants petitioned 
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Mr. Vashon was posthumously admitted to 
the bar 163 years after his first attempt. While it was long overdue, I 
join with the Vashon family and my fellow Vashon High School graduates 
in marking this important event and celebrating the life of this 
outstanding figure in American history.

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