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Sumner School Museum & Archives
This building served as the first black high school in the country. It was erected in 1872. It is named after a white Senator, Charles Sumner. Sumner, an abolitionist, was nearly beaten to death on the floor of the US Senate by South Carolina Senator Preston Smith Brooks during a heated debate on slavery in 1856. Sumner had delivered a blistering speech against Andrew Butler from South Carolina and Brooks, Butler's nephew, caned him afterward. Sumner never fully recovered while Brooks returned home to a hero's welcome and gifts of additional canes. |