From the trial transcript:
Miss Crandall's Boarding School
for Young Ladies of Color
Miss Crandall's Boarding School
for Young Ladies of Color
Canterbury, CT,
1833-34
The Tao of the
Trial
Miss Crandall, you stand
accused of knowingly
teaching colored persons not resident of the state,
without prior consent. What is your plea?
teaching colored persons not resident of the state,
without prior consent. What is your plea?
The Teacher does not
instruct. The Teacher waits.
Girl, has anyone been
teaching anything to you and your friends?
Who taught you how to plead
the Fifth Amendment?
Your honor, I submit as
evidence
of the alleged teachings of alleged students
this colored girl here, who openly reads books
and gazes skyward, who has been overheard
conversing animatedly in polysyllabic words
and referring off-handedly to the Ancient Greeks.
of the alleged teachings of alleged students
this colored girl here, who openly reads books
and gazes skyward, who has been overheard
conversing animatedly in polysyllabic words
and referring off-handedly to the Ancient Greeks.
The Teacher teaches,
without words and without action,
simplicity, patience, and compassion.
simplicity, patience, and compassion.
~ Marilyn Nelson
~
(Poetry, September
2005)
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