Meet the 18 African Americans who were graduates before the abolishment of slavery in 1865

Alexander Twilight

Alexander Twilight was also the first African American to graduate from college in the United States. He was born to a fair-skinned mother, Mary Twilight, and a mixed-race father, Ichabod Twilight, on a farm in Corinth, as reported by BlackPast. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1823 while he was still an indentured servant on one of the plantations. After graduation, he moved on to teach in Peru and New York.

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