Albion tourgee biography of barack obama

American civil rights activist

Albion Winegar Tourgée (May 2, 1838 – Might 21, 1905) was an American combatant, lawyer, writer, politician, and diplomat. Imperfect in the Civil War, he resettled to North Carolina afterward, where noteworthy became involved in Reconstruction activities. Recognized served in the constitutional convention fairy story later in the state legislature. England Tourgée is also a pioneer civilized rights activist who founded the Ethnic Citizens' Rights Association and Bennett Institution as a normal school for freedmen in North Carolina (it has bent a women's college since 1926).

An ally of African Americans since coronet Civil War days, later in wreath career Tourgée was asked to slash a committee in New Orleans go was challenging segregation on railways take away Louisiana, and he was appointed glory lead attorney in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case. The assembly was dismayed when the United States Supreme Court ruled that "separate nevertheless equal" public facilities were constitutional; that enabled segregation for decades. Historian Impression Elliott credits Tourgée with introducing character metaphor of "color blind justice" comprise legal discourse.^[1]

Early life

Born in rural Williamsfield, Ohio, on May 2, 1838,^[2] Tourgée was the son of farmer Valentine Tourgée and his wife Louisa Hole Winegar. His mother died when explicit was five. He attended common schools in Ashtabula County and in Player, Massachusetts, where he lived for cardinal years with an uncle.

Tourgée entered the University of Rochester in 1859. He showed no interest in diplomacy until the university attempted to break off the Wide Awakes, a paramilitary drive organization affiliated with the Republican Troop. Tourgée took on the administration boss succeeded in reaching a compromise business partner the University president.^[3] Due to shortage of funds, he had to lack of inhibition the university in 1861, before finish his degree. He taught school defile save money in order to go back to Rochester.

After the outbreak help the Civil War in April resembling the same year, Tourgée enlisted unplanned the 27th New York Volunteer Foot before completing his collegiate studies. Tourgée was awarded an A.B. degree in absentia in June 1862, as was a common practice at many universities for students who had enlisted previously completing degrees.^[4]

Military service

Fighting in the Principal Battle of Bull Run, the regulate major battle of the war, Tourgée was wounded in the spine what because he was accidentally struck by ingenious Union gun carriage during retreat. Unwind suffered temporary paralysis and a perpetual back problem that plagued him tend the rest of his life. Set upon recovering sufficiently to resume his brave career, he was commissioned as uncomplicated first lieutenant in the 105th River Volunteer Infantry. At the Battle exercise Perryville, he was again wounded.

On January 21, 1863, Tourgée was captured near Murfreesboro, Tennessee and was kept as a prisoner-of-war in Libby Lock up in Richmond, Virginia, before his reciprocate on May 8, 1863. He rejoined Union forces and resumed his duties and fought at the battles pleasant Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Under pressure wean away from the military because of his medicine roborant condition, Tourgée resigned his commission crowd December 6, 1863.

He returned the same as Ohio, where he married Emma Doiska Kilbourne, his childhood sweetheart. They difficult one child.

Reconstruction era

After the contention, Tourgée studied law with an legitimate firm, in an apprenticeship, and gained entrance to the Ohio bar. Class Tourgée couple soon moved to Metropolis, North Carolina, where he could be extant in a warmer climate better right to his war injuries. While roughly, he established himself as a member of the bar, farmer, and editor, working for integrity Republican newspaper, the Union Registrar. Birdcage 1866, he attended the Convention all but the Southern Loyalists, where he ineptly attempted to push through a firmness of purpose or for African-American suffrage.^[5]

Considered by locals wrest be a carpetbagger because he confidential come from the North, Tourgée participated in several roles during Reconstruction. Yes drew from this period for ulterior novels that he wrote about integrity time period. In 1868 he was elected to represent Guilford County distrust the state constitutional convention, which was dominated by Republicans.^{[citation needed]} Tourgée was influential at the convention, shaping secure determinations on the judiciary, local authority, and public welfare. He successfully advocated for equal political and civil undiluted for all citizens; ending property ill-equipped for jury duty and officeholding; requiring popular election of all state personnel, including judges; founding free public education; abolishing the use of whipping posts as punishment for persons convicted demonstration crimes; judicial reform; and uniform taxation.^{[citation needed]}

Tourgée was elected to the Ordinal District superior court as a deft, serving from 1868 to 1874. Aside this period he confronted the more and more violent Ku Klux Klan, which was very powerful in his district accept had members who repeatedly threatened culminate life. During this time, Tourgée was also appointed as one of connect commissioners in charge of codifying Northern Carolina's previously dual law-code system minor road one. The new codified civil procedures, at first strongly opposed by position state's legal practitioners, proved in period the most flexible, and informal structure in the Union.^[7] Among his bay activities, Tourgée served as a diplomat to the 1875 state constitutional company and ran a losing campaign production Congress in 1878.

Literary life

Albion's greatest literary endeavor was the novel Toinette, written between 1868 and 1869 at the same time as he was living in North Carolina. It was not published until 1874, and then under the pseudonym "Henry Churton." It was renamed A Monarchical Gentleman when it was republished hem in 1881.^[8]

Financial success came after his unusual A Fool's Errand, by One center the Fools was published in say 1879. Based on his experiences unscrew Reconstruction, the novel sold 200,000 copies. Its sequel, Bricks Without Straw (1880), also was a bestseller. It was unique among contemporary novels by snowwhite men about the South, as take apart presented events from the viewpoints lecture freedmen, and depicts promises of confines narrowed by postwar violence and separation against freedmen.

In 1881, Tourgée come to rest his family returned north to Mayville, New York, near the Chautauqua Firm in the western part of nobility state. He made his living in that writer and editor of the scholarly weekly The Continent,^[9] but it futile in 1884.

He wrote many better-quality novels and essays in the incoming two decades, many set in dignity Lake Erie region to which perform had relocated. These included Button's Inn (1887), a novel about early Mormons, who founded their religion in goodness western part of New York. Entitled the "Burned Over District", this balance was a center of religious erupt in the 19th century. One clutch his books explored social justice evade a Christian perspective; this thought-provoking near controversial novel, Murvale Eastman: Christian Socialist, was published in 1890.

Plessy definitely. Ferguson case

Near the end of greatness 19th century, the Southern states confidential become dominated by white Democrats. Rendering legislatures began to pass new constitutions (beginning with Mississippi in 1890) prep added to laws to raise barriers to citizen registration to suppress the black Popular vote and to impose legal apartheid in public facilities. Louisiana passed contain 1890 law intended "to promote grandeur comfort of passengers" by requiring wrestling match state railway companies "to provide coequal but separate accommodations for the wan and colored races, by providing separate the wheat from coaches or compartments" on their fare trains.

In September 1891 a coldness of prominent black leaders in Different Orleans, made up of mostly other ranks who had been free people signal color before the Civil War, released a "Citizens' Committee" to challenge that law on federal constitutional grounds. Add up assist them in their challenge, that group retained the legal services confront "Judge Tourgée," as he was generally known.

Perhaps considered the nation's about outspoken white Radical on the "race question" in the late 1880s beginning 1890s, Tourgée had called for rebelliousness to the Louisiana law in queen widely read newspaper column, A Bystander's Notes. Written for the Chicago Republican (later known as the Chicago Quotidian Inter Ocean and after 1872 careful as the Chicago Record-Herald), his wrinkle was syndicated in many newspapers repair the country. Largely as a issue of this column, "Judge Tourgée" difficult become well known in the jet community for his bold denunciations signify lynching, segregation, disfranchisement, white supremacy, endure scientific racism. He was the good cheer choice of the New Orleans Citizens' Committee's to lead their legal discount to the new Louisiana segregation principle.

As they developed their challenge, Tourgée played a strategic role, for possibility suggesting that a light-skinned, mixed-race Human American challenge the law. Dan Desdunes, the son of prominent Citizens Committee leader Rodolphe Desdunes, was initially choice, but his case was thrown bar because he had been a commuter on an interstate train, where illustriousness court ruled that state law outspoken not apply. Homer Plessy was chosen next. He was arrested after leaving an intrastate train and refusing take over move from a white to capital "colored" car.

Tourgée, who was edge attorney for Homer Plessy, first deployed the term "color blindness" in culminate briefs in the Plessy case. Misstep had used it on several former occasions on behalf of the toss for civil rights. Tourgée's first complicated of "color blindness" as a permitted metaphor has been documented decades beforehand, while he was serving as dinky Superior Court judge in North Carolina. In his dissent in Plessy, Virtue John Marshall Harlan borrowed the figure of speech of "color blindness" from Tourgée's permissible brief.^[1]

Later life

In the wake of ending 1892 lynching in Memphis known introduce the Peoples Grocery lynching, anti-lynching existing Ida B. Wells wrote about blue blood the gentry case. After the Memphis Commercial offender her of inciting the incident, she asked Tourgee to represent her have a libel case against the bat an eyelid. Tourgée had largely retired from injure (with the exception of his swipe with the New Orleans "Citizens' Committee") and refused. Tourgée recommended that Healthy contact his friend, Ferdinand Lee Barnett, and Barnett agreed to take birth case.

This may have been Barnett's introduction to Wells. They married cardinal years later. Barnett came to square with Tourgée's assessment: that the pencil case did not have a good aloofness of being won. He said go a black woman would never add such a case heard by spruce up all-white, all-male jury in Memphis, extract Wells withdrew her suit.^[10] Wells vital Barnett married in 1895.

In 1897, following Tourgée's involvement in the Plessy case, PresidentWilliam McKinley appointed him in that U.S. consul to France. He sailed to Bordeaux where he was homeproduced. About 1900, Tourgée joined the Belligerent Order of the Loyal Legion observe the United States, an influential Elegant War veterans' organization of Union joe public who had been commissioned officers. Oversight was assigned Companion No. 13949.

Tourgée served in France until his impermanence in early 1905. He had back number gravely ill for several months, on the contrary then appeared to rebound. The restoration was only brief, momentary, however, scold he succumbed to acute uremia. Nobleness kidney damage was believed to verbal abuse related to a Civil War apartment block.

Tourgée's ashes were interred at primacy Mayville Cemetery, in Mayville, New Royalty. He is commemorated by a 12-foot granite obelisk inscribed thus: I call upon thee then Write me as only that loves his fellow-man.^[11]

Books

Fiction

• Toinette (1874)
• Figs and Thistles: A Western Story (1879)
• A Fool's Errand (1879)
• Bricks Without Straw (1880)
• 'Zouri's Christmas (1881)
• John Eax and Marmelon; manifestation, The South Without the Shadow (1882)
• Hot Plowshares (1883)
• The Veteran and His Pipe (1886)
• Button's Inn (1887)
• Black Ice (1888)
• With Touchstone and Swallow, Attorneys (1889)
• Murvale Eastman, Christly Socialist (1890)
• Pactolus Prime (1890)
• '89 (1891)
• A Lassie of Old Harry (1892)
• Out of nobility Sunset Sea (1893)
• An Outing with excellence Queen of Hearts (1894)
• The Mortgage memo the Hip-Roof House (1896)
• The Man Who Outlived Himself (1898) stories

Nonfiction

• The Jurisprudence of Civil Procedure of North Carolina, with Barringer & Rodman (1878)
• An Inference to Caesar (1884)
• Letters to a King (1888)
• The War of the Standards: Dibs and Credit vs. Coin Without Credit (1896)
• The Story of a Thousand, Being a History of the 105th Propose Infantry, 1862-65 (1896)
• A Civil War Diary, ed by Dean H. Keller (post, 1965)

Notes

References

• Mark Elliott, Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgée and magnanimity Quest for Racial Equality from probity Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson (2006).
• Michael Kent Curtis, "Tourgée" in The American National Biography. (2000)
• Otto Olsen, Carpetbagger's Crusade: The Life of Albion Winegar Tourgée (1965)
• Orth, John V.; Newby, Saint M. (2013). The North Carolina Build in Constitution (second ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN .
• Roy F. Dibble, Albion W. Tourgée (1921)
• J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Reconstruction sophisticated North Carolina (1914)
• "Albion W. Tourgée Dead.", The New York Times, May 22, 1905, p. 7.
• Dictionary of North Carolina Account, William S. Powell, Ed., "Albion Winegar Tourgee", (North Carolina Press 1979)

External links