Biography
Born to a very young mother in New York state in 1814, Andrew Harris was adopted and raised by white Presbyterian minister and his wife along with their nine natural children in Cayuga, New York. This location was one of the epicenters of revivalist thought and action. He attended church school, even teaching sections himself. Supported by his family, he attended the Geneva Lyceum, a college and ministry preparatory school.
In 1834 he applied to Union College and then Middlebury College, receiving rejections from both due to the current political environment revolving around the "Negro riots" of the summer of that year. Ultimately, he ended up applying for and being accepted as the first black student at the University of Vermont.
His time in Burlington was not pleasant, with extreme racism at every juncture of his academic journey. The academic records of his time often list him last on student rolls, even though all other students were listed alphabetically. His experiences were later recounted by his friend Alexander Mann as well as Frederick Douglass. However, he persisted and attended all of his exams, attaining the requirements of graduation in 1838. At the time, all graduates presented an oration during the graduation ceremony. According to a preprinted schedule, Harris was set to deliver his oration 14th out of 24 students. By all accounts he was awarded his degree, but barred from speaking at the event.
He quickly became very active in the abolitionist movement and advocated for the immediate abolition of slavery with a political, rather than moral, approach. He was not in favor of the Colonization Movement, popular in Vermont, that promoted the resettlement of African-Americans in Liberia. He moved to New York and later Philadelphia where he gained notoriety for both his writing and speeches.
In 1841 he was ordained a Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia with a promising career ahead of him. Tragically, he died of a fever that December at the young age of 27.Education
Geneva Lyceum
UVM (1838)Occupation
Abolitionist
Minister