John Russwurm Moves to Liberia, Becomes First Black American Colonial Superintendent

John Russwurm, co-founder of Freedom's Journal and one of the first Black college graduates in America, emigrated to Liberia in 1829 and became superintendent of education and later governor of the Maryland Colony in Liberia. Though his departure was controversial in Black abolitionist circles, his career represented a significant exercise of Black governance and institution-building.