Martin Henry Freeman -- 1826-1889

Martin Freeman, born in Rutland, became the first black college president in the United States and was a member of the second East Parish Congregational Church which stood on this site. He was prepared by Pastor William Mitchell for Middlebury College, graduating in 1849 as salutatorian. In 1850 Freeman was appointed professor at Allegheny Institute (later Avery College) near Pittsburgh, PA. Here he gained renown in the fields of science and mathematics. In 1856 Freeman advanced to the office of college president, the first black in the country to achieve this position. Freeman became active in the American emigration movement and moved his family to Africa in 1864. For many years he was professor at Liberia College and became its president shortly before his death in 1889.