Wednesday, May 8, 2024

A00019 - Pelleman Williams (Class of 1844), Well Known Educator, Vocalist and Organist

 Prof. P. M. Williams (1816-1882) was Wendell Phillip MacNeal’s grandfather, and husband of Mary Harris of Connecticut. Pelleman attended Amherst and Dartmouth Colleges in the early 1840s and was one of the vice presidents of the 1849 Connecticut State Convention of Colored Men. He taught African-American children in Connecticut and New York before heading to New Orleans in about 1864 to teach in schools newly established through the American Missionary Association and the Freedman’s Bureau. When Straight University (now Dillard) was formed in [1868], he was appointed principal of the Normal School. The school was burned to the ground by a mob in 1877. It was rebuilt, only to be burned again in 1891. In addition to being a well-known educator, Pelleman was a proficient vocalist and organist.

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