Refusing Ignorance tells the story of the courageous men and women, both black and white, who struggled to provide an education for black children in Albany, New York. Author Marian I. Hughes traces this inspiring story from 1816, when the state legislature incorporated the "Albany School for Educating People of Color," through 1873, when state civil rights law made the segregated Wilberforce School on Hamilton Street illegal.
Readers will meet Benjamin Lattimore, a Revolutionary War veteran who led the movement for black education in Albany; Stephen A. Myers, an outspoken journalist and abolitionist who used his Albany newspaper as a forum for the rights of black children; Arabella Chapman, the first black student to graduate from the Free Academy, now Albany High School; and the trustees of the Albany Lancaster Society, nineteenth-century proponents of equal educational opportunity.
Richly illustrated with historic photographs and engravings, Refusing Ignorance draws upon hundreds of documents in Albany archives, including the handwritten minutes of the Board of Commissioners of Common Schools. Maps pinpoint the important education sites in Albany. This book will appeal to all those interested in local history, black history, and the history of education.
Although Marian Hughes was born and raised in Albany, New York, her life has been spent on an international stage, where she has been a prominent supporter of black studies and improved race relations.
Marian holds a B.A. from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany and an M.S. from SUNY Oneonta. She undertook additional course work at Russell Sage College, the University of Milan in Italy, and the University of Birmingham in England.
In her long and distinguished career, Marian held a number of varied offices. She taught elementary school in both Albany and Schenectady and summer courses at SUNY Oneonta; developed the Black Studies program at Hudson Valley Community College; and served as the coordinator of human relations for the Albany School District, as an associate in the New York State Education Department's Center for International Programs, the principal of the Abeokuta Girls High School in Nigeria, West Africa, and as a consultant for teacher training in Nigeria.
Marian is the recipient of numerous honors for her work in education and international and race relations. She has received the White House Citation in Education, the Award in Education from the Schenectady Chapter of Zonta Club International, and the Award of Excellence in Education from the Gloversville Kiwanis Club and has served as president of Delta Kappa Gamma women's honor society. She was presented with the National Urban League Award for outstanding work in race relations, the Albany District Links Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Community, and the National Council of International Visitors Award of Distinction.
In addition, Marian was named the Woman of the Year by the Arbor Hill Community Center and was selected one of 200 Outstanding Women of the Capital District as part of the College of St. Rose Bicentennial celebration. She has been featured in Ebony magazine, Who's Who in Colored America, and Hands, Hearts, and Voices: Women Who Followed God's Call, a publication celebrating outstanding women of the Reformed Church in America. She is the author of Standing Tall: A History of the Albany School District and the creator of Meet the Mayor at City Hall, a board game selected to commemorate Albany's Tricentennial.
With her late husband, Paul M. Hughes, Marian traveled extensively throughout South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Russia, and the United States. She maintains a winter residence in Tucson, Arizona, and continues to host many international guests at her Loudonville home.
