TROY GROVE – A historical marker was dedicated in Troy Grove last month for a woman who fought racial bigotry in Connecticut in the early 19th century. Prudence Crandall was a white teacher who in the 1830’s conducted an advanced academy for Black women in Canterbury, Conn. Originally an academy for whites, after the first Black female was admitted, racial bigotry resulted in the academy becoming exclusively for Black females. But white racial discrimination and repeat violence forced the school to close. In 1842 Crandall moved to Troy Grove, living in Illinois for 35 years, primarily in La Salle County. She taught school and was an active in woman’s rights and the abolitionist movement to end slavery. In Connecticut, Crandall’s school still stands as a museum and in 1995 the Connecticut General Assembly named her the Official Heroine of Connecticut. She died in Kansas in 1890 at the age of 86. The marker is located in the Wild Bil Hickok Memorial Park in Troy Grove.
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