Editing Canterbury, Connecticut (section)

===Prudence Crandall's School (1831–1834)===
{{main|Canterbury Female Boarding School}}
{{blockquote|Canterbury was a very influential town at this period, and was particularly noted for the public spirit and high character of its leading men, and its cultivated and agreeable society. [[Andrew T. Judson]], State attorney and successful lawyer, Dr. [Andrew] Harris, the skillful surgeon. Esquire Frost, the devoted champion of temperance, Rufus Adams, with his fund of dry humor, George S. White, with his strong character and multifarious knowledge, Luther Paine, John Francis, Thomas and Stephen Coit, Samuel L. Hough, all solid men interested in public affairs — had their homes at or near Canterbury Green, and gave tone and prominence to the town. Few country towns could boast such social attractions. Dr. Harris was one of the most genial and hospitable of men, and his new model house with its rare appendage of a conservatory and choice flower-garden, was the wonder of all the County. Mrs. Harris had inherited the social characteristics of her distinguished father, General [[Moses Cleaveland]], and received their unnumbered guests with all his ease and heartiness. A handsome new house had been also built by Mr. Judson, in which much company was entertained, although it was said that Mrs. Judson as a Windham lady assumed superiority over her neighbors. Her husband, who liked to rally her upon this weakness, once called her down to the parlor to receive a Windham visitor, and most blandly presented to her an intrusive frog, which had hopped into the hall. His own tact and courtesy made ample amends for his wife's reputed deficiencies. Pleasant familiar intercourse was maintained among the village residents. All united with uncommon unanimity in plans for village improvement and public benefit, and it was in carrying out one of these projects that they struck upon the rock which foundered them.<ref name=Larned>{{cite book
|title=History of Windham County, Connecticut
|last=Larned
|first=Ellen D.
|date=1880
|publisher=The Author
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
|location=[[Worcester, Massachusetts]]
|volume=2
|url= https://archive.org/details/historyofwindham02larn/page/490}}</ref>{{rp|490}}}}

In 1832, [[Prudence Crandall]], a schoolteacher raised as a Quaker, stirred controversy when she opened the [[Canterbury Female Boarding School]] and admitted black girls as students. Prominent Canterbury resident [[Andrew T. Judson]] led efforts against the school. The [[Connecticut General Assembly]] passed a "Black Law", which prohibited the education of black children from out of state. Crandall persisted in teaching, and in 1833 was arrested and kept in jail overnight.

Unsuccessful and long legal proceedings were mounted but violence by a mob of Canterbury residents forced the closure of the school in 1834. Crandall left the state and never returned. Connecticut repealed the Black Law in 1838.

In 1877 the town of Canterbury recognized Crandall, who had moved to [[Elk Falls, Kansas]], with a small pension. Crandall, who by then was living in poverty, said that this helped improve her living condition. She died in 1890.