Edward Wilmot Blyden

Edward Wilmot Blyden
c 1860s, London
Born	3 August 1832(1832-08-03) Saint Thomas (now Virgin Islands)
Died	7 February 1912(1912-02-07) (aged 79) Freetown, Sierra Leone
Nationality	Creole, Americo-Liberian
Other names	Eddy, Ed
Occupation	educator, writer, diplomat, politician
Known for	"Father of Pan-Africanism" Liberian ambassador and politician
Religion	Christian
Spouse	Sarah Yates
Partner	Anna Erskine
Children	Pay'ton Blyden

Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was an Americo-Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician primarily in Liberia. He also taught for five years in Sierra Leone, and his writings were influential in both countries.

Early life and education

Blyden was born into slavery on 3 August 1832 in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (then under Danish rule) to enslaved parents who were Igbo from present-day Nigeria.

According to the historian Hollis R. Lynch, in 1845 Blyden met the Reverend John P. Knox, a white American, who became pastor of the St. Thomas Protestant Dutch Reformed Church. Blyden and his family lived near the church, and Knox was impressed with the studious, intelligent boy. Knox became his mentor, encouraging Blyden's considerable aptitude for oratory and literature. Mainly because of his close association with Knox, the young Blyden decided to become a minister, which his parents encouraged.

In May 1850, Blyden, accompanied by Reverend Knox's wife, went to the United States to enroll in Rutgers Theological College, Knox's alma mater. He was refused admission due to his race. Efforts to enroll him in two other theological colleges also failed. Knox encouraged Blyden to go to Liberia and the colony set up by the American Colonization Society (ACS), where he thought Blyden would be able to use his talents.

Marriage and family

Later that year, Blyden arrived in Liberia and soon became deeply involved in its development. Blyden married Sarah Yates, an Americo-Liberian from the prominent Yates family. She was the niece of the Liberian vice president, Hilary Yates. She and Blyden had three children together.

Later while living in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Blyden had a long-term relationship with Anna Erskine, an African American from Louisiana. She was a granddaughter of James Spriggs-Payne, who was elected twice as the President of Liberia. Erskine and Blyden had five children together, and his direct descendants in Sierra Leone are from this union. They have been considered part of the Krio population. Some Blyden descendants continue to live in Freetown, among them Sylvia Blyden, publisher of the Awareness Times.

Blyden died in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 7 February 1912. He was buried at Racecourse Cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Career

From 1855-1856, Blyden edited the Liberia Herald and wrote the column, "A Voice From Bleeding Africa". He also spent time in other British colonies in West Africa, particularly Nigeria and Sierra Leone, writing for early newspapers in both colonies. He maintained ties with the American Colonization Society and published in their journal, African Depository and Colonial Journal.

As a diplomat, Blyden served as an ambassador for Liberia to Britain and France. He also traveled to the United States, where he spoke to major black congregations about his work in Africa. Blyden believed that Black Americans' could end their suffering of racial discrimination by returning to Africa and helping develop it. He was criticized by African Americans who did not identify with Africa.

As a young man, Blyden was appointed the Liberian Secretary of State (1862–1864). He was later appointed Minister of the Interior (1880–1882).

In addition to holding many positions of leadership in politics and diplomacy, Blyden taught classics at Liberia College (1862–1871). He also served as its president (1880–1884), leading the college through a period of expansion.

From 1901-06, Blyden directed the education of Muslims at an institution in Sierra Leone, where he lived in Freetown. This is when he had his relationship and several children with Anna Erskine.

Writings

As a writer, Blyden is regarded widely as the "father of Pan-Africanism". His major work, Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race (1887), promoted the idea that practicing Islam was more unifying and fulfilling for Africans than Christianity. He argues that the latter was introduced later, mostly by European colonizers. Blyden believed it had a demoralizing effect, although he continued to be a Christian. He thought Islam was more authentically African. His book was controversial in Great Britain, both for its subject and because many people at first did not believe that a black African had written it. In later printings, Blyden included his photograph as the frontispiece.

Blyden supported the creation of a Jewish state in Israel and praised Theodore Herzl as the creator of "that marvelous movement called Zionism."

Works

Books

• "The Call of Providence to the Descendants of Africa in America", A Discourse Delivered to Coloured Congregations in the Cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Harrisburg, during the Summer of 1862, in Liberia's Offering: Being Addresses, Sermons, etc., New York: John A. Gray, 1862
• Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race, London, W.B. Whittingham & Co., 1887; 2nd Edition 1888; University of Edinburgh Press, 3rd Edition, 1967; reprint of 1888 edition, Baltimore, Maryland: Black Classic Press, 1994 (edition on Googlebooks).
• African Life and Customs, London: C.M. Phillips, 1908; reprint Baltimore, Maryland: Black Classic Press, 1994.
• West Africa Before Europe: and Other Addresses, Delivered in England in 1901 and 1903, London: C.M. Phillips, 1905.

Essays and speeches

• "Africa for the Africans," African Repository and Colonial Journal, Washington, DC: January 1872.
• "The Call of Providence to the Descendants of Africa in America", A Discourse Delivered to Coloured Congregations in the Cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Harrisburg, during the Summer of 1862, in Liberia's Offering: Being Addresses, Sermons, etc., New York: John A. Gray, 1862.
• "The Elements of Permanent Influence", Discourse Delivered at the 15th St. Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., Sunday, 16 February 1890, Washington, DC: R. L. Pendleton (published by request), 1890 (hosted on Virtual Museum of Edward W. Blyden)
• "Liberia as a Means, Not an End", Liberian Independence Oration: 26 July 1867; African Repository and Colonial Journal, Washington, DC: November 1867.
• "The Negro in Ancient History, Liberia: Past, Present, and Future," Methodist Quarterly Review, Washington, DC: M'Gill & Witherow Printer.
• "The Origin and Purpose of African Colonization", A Discourse Delivered at the 66th Anniversary of the American Colonization Society, Washington, D.C., 14 January 1883, Washington, 1883.
• E. W. Blyden M.A., Report on the Falaba Expedition 1872, Addressed to His Excellency Governor J. Pope Hennessy, C.M.G., Published by authority Freetown, Sierra Leone. Printed at Government Office, 1872.
• "Liberia at the American Centennial", Methodist Quarterly Review, July 1877.
• "America in Africa," Christian Advocate I, 28 July 1898, II, 4 August 1898.
• "The Negro in the United States," A.M.E. Church Review, January 1900.

See also

• Sub-Saharan Africa