[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING ALEXANDER TWILIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETER WELCH

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 1, 2020

  Mr. WELCH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 225th 
anniversary of the birth of a trailblazing Vermonter, Alexander Lucius 
Twilight, and to honor his legacy. Alexander was not only the first 
African American to graduate from a U.S. college or university, but the 
first African American to serve in a state legislature. In recognition 
of his contributions and his legacy as a trailblazer, the Vermont 
legislature passed a resolution in June 2020 marking his birthday, 
September 23, 2020, as Alexander Twilight Day.
  Alexander was born on September 23, 1795 to mixed-race parents. His 
father, Ichabod Twilight, fought with the Second New Hampshire Regiment 
in the Revolutionary War. After the war, Ichabod and his wife, Mary, 
moved to Bradford, Vermont.
  Vermont's 1777 constitution prohibited adult slavery, but the letter 
of the law was not reflected in practice. In the decades following 
Vermont's acceptance as the 14th state, Black children were still held 
as slaves and all Black Vermonters continued to face the threat of 
being kidnapped and sold out of state. Against this backdrop of 
widespread discrimination, Twilight graduated with a bachelor's degree 
from Middlebury College in 1823. He is the first known African American 
to receive a bachelor's degree from any U.S. college or university.
  After he graduated, Twilight became a teacher and a minister. He 
moved to New York to teach and married Mercy Ladd Merrill. Soon after, 
he returned to Vermont to run the Orleans County Grammar School in 
Brownington. To accommodate increasing enrollment, he organized the 
funding and construction of a new school building to house and educate 
students. He also served as the local pastor, delivering sermons 
decrying slavery and supporting temperance. His sermons reveal a man of 
strong convictions, who viewed human history as a progression towards 
greater individual freedom guided by conscience.
  In 1836, Twilight became ``the first'' again, this time as the first 
African American elected to serve in a state legislature. He continued 
to teach at the Orleans County School and in Quebec until 1855, when a 
stroke left him paralyzed. He died two years later, on June 19, 1857. 
The next year, Vermont passed a complete ban on slavery, declaring that 
anyone who entered the state was free.
  Today, Twilight's house, the school where he taught, and the 
dormitory he built still stand as part of the Old Stone House Museum in 
the Brownington Historic District. His legacy as an educator lives on 
through the Museum, where his ideals are reflected in the museum's 
educational programs, community services and his personal collection. 
Twilight's memory is etched in Vermont's higher learning institutions, 
such as Middlebury College's Alexander Twilight Hall and Alexander 
Twilight Auditorium at Northern Vermont University--Lyndon.
  I hope that Alexander Twilight will continue to be remembered and 
celebrated as a pioneer who persevered against long odds. He should 
also serve as a reminder of how far we have come as a nation, and how 
far we still have to go to achieve equality for all Americans, 
regardless of skin color, race or ethnicity.

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