Alexander Twilight
This date marks the birth of Alexander Lucius Twilight in 1795. He was one of the first black college graduates in the United States.
Alexander Twilight was born to a free black family in Corinth, Vt. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1823 with his baccalaureate degree, making him the first black to receive a degree from an American college. He was licensed to preach by the Presbyterian Church and served several other Congregational churches.
Twilight became the principal of the Orleans County Grammar School in Brownington, VT, and in 1836, built a massive three-story granite building, Athenian Hall, which became Brownington Academy. That same year, Twilight also served in the Vermont state legislature, the first black to do so in that state.
Alexander Twilight died in 1857.
