National Freedom Day Association Correspondence with Governors
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Authors
National Freedom Day Association
Issue Date
2016-06-09
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
African American College Presidents , Savannah (Ga.) , Savannah State College , Savannah State University (Ga.) , Chatham County (Ga.) , african american colleges , Georgia State College , Georgia State Industrial College , Georgia State Industrial colleges for colored youths
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
National Freedom Day Correspondence with various state Governer offices including North Carolina, New Mexico, California, and Wisconsin. Selections from Richard R. Wright Freedom Day, 1941-2015. This collection consists of materials in the form of photographs, programs, documents and manuscripts related to the establishment and continued development of National Freedom Day and celebrations founded by Richard R. Wright, Sr. (1941-2015).
Richard R. Wright, Sr. served as the first president of Georgia State Industrial College. During his thirty year tenure, enrollment increased from 8 to 585 students and the expanded curriculum included a normal division, courses in agriculture and mechanical arts, and four years of high school. The college awarded its first baccalaureate degree in 1898. He was an American military officer, educator, politician, civil rights advocate, and banking entrepreneur, who served as president from 1891 to 1921. He was the first African American to serve as an Army paymaster and was the highest ranking African-American officer during the Spanish-American War. Wright resigned as President in June 1921 and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There he opened the only African-American owned bank in the North, Citizens & Southern Bank & Trust Co.