Ava Caudle

Prudence Crandall is remembered for her pioneering work in the fight for equal rights for Black Americans, but her involvement in several other causes of the time solidified her status in history as a change-maker. Her original threads of justice and acceptance can be traced back to her roots: Crandall was raised in a Quaker family and attended a Quaker school, meaning that her socially conscious nature was cultivated from early on. It would only spread as she grew older, started the Canterbury School, and immersed herself in additional movements after the school’s closure due to mob violence.

Her avid belief in and influence from the Spiritualism of the 19th century is often overlooked. This school of thought derived from the idea that after death, an individual’s soul remains and can be contacted. Crandall further was a firm believer in the idea of universal salvation, which was a popular belief among Spiritualists of the time. She argued that humans could progress to higher spiritual planes, and that this progress was essential to the attainment of true freedom. The practice encouraged individuals to think critically about the way society was structured. She believed that the higher realm could enable humans to better understand the physical world, beliefs that complemented her commitment to reform and ardent advocacy for social justice. Crandall regularly held Spiritualist gatherings at her home in Elk County, Kansas, lecturing on the subject to her peers through “ethical conferences.” She was also a frequent reader of Spiritualist periodicals such as The Banner of Light.  Crandall’s legacy as a Spiritualist was significant for 19th-century America, providing a sense of grounding in a time of great social upheaval.

Despite no definite account of how she was introduced to Spiritualism, it is believed that her predisposition stemmed from the religious openness of her Quaker background and Reverend Samuel May’s later Unitarian influence (as well as a possible psychic experience from her childhood, proposed by Crandall’s “adopted son” A.C. Williams). Prudence Crandall’s involvement in Spiritualism and its connection to various reform movements had a significant impact on her public life. While she achieved recognition for her efforts in education and activism for women’s rights and prohibition, her Spiritualist beliefs brought some isolation in Elk County. Spiritualism was a source of inspiration for reformers in 19th-century America, but its connection to mainstream religious beliefs created tensions and limited acceptance in the community. Her legacy in Spiritualism stands as a testament to the complex interplay between religious beliefs and social activism in a changing society.

Crandall was a vocal advocate of temperance, believing that it was essential to the progress of society. This movement in 19th century America was a social and political force that advocated for the reduction or elimination of the consumption of alcohol. It was driven by both religious and moral motivations, as well as a desire to reduce the negative effects of alcohol on society. The development was a major factor in the rise of the Progressive Era in the United States, as well as the growth of women’s rights. Crandall was a firm believer in the power of education to help advance this cause. Later in her life, she would continue her emphasis on the value by engaging in discussions on the matter at meetings for the Elk Falls chapter of the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union).

The Temperance Movement paved the way for women’s political involvement as they led the charge against alcohol abuse, lending itself to support in causes such as the female right to vote. Crandall was at the forefront of this intersect when she spoke publicly about the iniquity suffered by women due to the lack of representation in government at her home meetings accompanied by important guests such as Helen Gougar, a temperance and women’s rights lecturer who visited Prudence Crandall in Elk Falls in 1887. Belva Lockwood, another prominent women’s rights activist, visited the prior year, indicating Crandall’s commitment to using her temperance platform to also uplift women’s political involvement.

An omnipresent mark on equality past her death, Crandall’s school and court case had a significant impact on future racial precedents under the law. With the Connecticut Black Law upheld in court under the pretense that Black people were not citizens and were not entitled to her education, Crandall was convicted and subsequently appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors. Her defense’s appeal argument was that the Connecticut law denied the principles of the U.S. Constitution. However, despite overturning her conviction, the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors (known today as the Connecticut Supreme Court) left the constitutional question of the case for a future legal decision to determine.

Said dangling constitutional question would come to be addressed by the monumental United States Supreme Court decisions to follow. To preface,  Crandall v. The State of Connecticut was subsequently referenced during the Dred Scott v. Sandford trial, which declared that African Americans were not citizens and did not have the right to file a federal lawsuit. The subsequent first section of the Fourteenth Amendment, providing African-Americans with citizenship, was derived from Ellsworth’s appeal arguments for Crandall. The principles Crandall fought for came to fruition, however, in the later 1954 landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, for which Chief Counsel Thurgood Marshall’ written remarks cited Crandall v. State in resolving the injustice of segregated education. The Supreme Court declared the unconstitutionality of “separate but equal” education for white and African American students. As such, Crandall’s struggle was a crucial stepping stone in the fight toward permanent racial and educational equality in America, and her work furthered the goals of civil rights as well as her supplementary pursuits toward human and spiritual harmony.

–

I said in my heart, here are my convictions. What shall I do? Shall I be inactive and permit prejudice, the mother of abominations, to remain undisturbed? Or shall I venture to enlist in the ranks of those who with the Sword of Truth dare hold combat with prevailing iniquity?

Prudence Crandall, 1833