Phoenix Society (New York)

The Phoenix Society, was a mutual aid society for African Americans and education, "an organization dedicated to 'morals, literature and the mechanical arts'".[1][2] It was founded in 1833 by Samuel Cornish, Theodore Wright, Peter Williams Jr., and Christopher Rush in New York City.[2] They had support from the philanthropist brothers Arthur and Lewis Tappan. Many people associated with the Phoenix Society attended the New York Manumission Society’s African Free School in New York City.[3]

They set up the Phoenix High School for Colored Youth, first for boys, where Henry Highland Garnet studied, followed quickly by a high school for girls.[4]: 82 

  1. ^ Hembree, Michael F. (1996). "Wright, Theodore Sedgwick". Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019 – via encyclopedia.com.
  2. ^ a b Carrillo, Karen Juanita (2012-08-22). African American History Day by Day: A Reference Guide to Events: A Reference Guide to Events. ABC-CLIO. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-59884-361-3.
  3. ^ Duane, Anna Mae (February 2022). Educated for Freedom: The Incredible Story of Two Fugitive Schoolboys Who Grew Up to Change a Nation. NYU Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4798-1671-2.
  4. ^ Williams, Jr., Donald E (2014). Prudence Crandall's legacy : the fight for equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of Education. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819574701.