James Storum
*On this date in 1847, James Storum was born. He was a Black educator and Professor.
From Buffalo, New York, his mother Mary Canady was from Sussex County, his grandfather Charles Storum was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Storum's mother was a woman deeply religious, and full of energy and enterprise.
At age thirteen, James Storum embraced religion and united with the Michigan Street Baptist Church. He was a graduate of Oberlin College, Ohio, He later went to Washington D.C. and taught at Wayland Seminary, one of the schools fostered by the Baptist Home Mission Society. He taught there for thirteen years. In 1872, he married Carrie Garnett Browne.
Storum was the first principal of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, (Virginia State University) 1883-1885. As a professor, Storum was interested in the improvement and elevation of "Colored" people. Professor Storum, throughout his career, wrote and lectured on a variety of subjects, such as religion, politics, education, and finance. From The American Negro, History and Literature. His death is unknown.
