Charles Augustus Thompson: Buffalo’s First Black Renaissance Man
By William R. Greco
The term "Renaissance man" is used to describe a person who accumulates knowledge and acquires skills from a wide range of academic and technical disciplines, often applying these talents to a variety of fields. As a teacher, principal, clergyman, U. S. Treasury clerk/inspector, chiropractor, husband and father, Charles Augustus Thompson's journey through life fits that definition to a tee. An African American born before the Civil War, the obstacles he faced and tenacity he needed to obtain that knowledge and acquire those skills makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable.
The middle child of Charles Thompson Sr., a cook on a steamer ship, and Lucinda (née Harris), who worked as a housekeeper, Charles was born in Buffalo on October 24, 1858. Along with his older brother William, younger sister Martha and maternal grandmother Catharine, he lived at 356 Walnut Street in an ethnically diverse neighborhood on Buffalo’s East Side. When Charles was ready to begin his education, it is likely his only option was to attend the segregated Vine Street School, No. 9, about a 10-minute, half-mile walk from his house.
In accordance with the provisions of the Buffalo City Charter, the segregated Buffalo African School opened on July 1, 1839. It was always grossly inferior to the white schools in all aspects, including the school facilities and curriculum. Until 1848, the grammar school had no permanent home, but instead occupied rented space, including in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church on Vine Street. In 1848, the school was moved to the building formerly occupied and abandoned by School No. 11, across from the A.M.E. Church. After 1848, the African school was often referred to as the Vine Street School for the Colored or School No. 9.
The end of legal segregation of the Buffalo Public Schools commenced with the passage of a resolution by the Buffalo Common Council on March 25, 1872, recommending that the City Charter be so amended as to allow black children to attend the public (white) schools. Charles A. Thompson likely started attending School No. 9 in the mid 1860’s, during the time of legal segregation, and finished school in 1875, after desegregation.
Despite the perceived lack of opportunities available to him, Charles excelled at school. In June of 1873, the first year of the Buffalo citywide Jesse Ketchum academic awards, named after the Buffalo philanthropist Jesse Ketchum (1782-1867), he won a silver medal from School 9. The first medal award ceremony (for the academic year 1872-1873) took place on the evening of Friday, January 8, 1874, at St. James Hall (where One M&T Plaza now stands) in front of a standing-room-only crowd. Dignitaries sat in chairs on the right of the stage, including the guest of honor and former president of the United States, Millard Fillmore. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of medals. Charles was likely the 32nd recipient when he received the 36mm silver medal, #8. He was the first African American recipient of a Jesse Ketchum medal.
Location of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and the Vine Street School No. 9. Both are highlighted in pink. North is to the right. Section of page 36 from the Atlas of the City of Buffalo New York, Erie County, New York (Philadelphia: G. M. Hopkins & Co., 1872).
Credit: Private Collection
Charles began at the Buffalo Normal School (now Buffalo State College) in September, 1875, when he was 17 years old. The Normal School was originally located on Buffalo's West Side at Jersey and 13th streets on land provided by Jesse Ketchum. From his house on Walnut, Charles would have had about a 40-minute, two-mile walk to school. [In 1931, the institution, then called the State Teachers College at Buffalo, moved out to its present, larger Elmwood Avenue location, and the new Grover Cleveland High School moved into the building.] The school's primary mission was to train teachers for the Buffalo public schools’ rapidly growing student population. The school provided three main curricula – Elementary English, Advanced English and Classical, listed here in order of difficulty. Charles chose to pursue the Classical. His curriculum included 4 Latin courses, German, Mathematics, History, Art, Science, Philosophy, a full slate of pedagogical courses and a teaching practicum in the School of Practice.
He graduated five years later, as one of only two men in a class of 19. The 8th annual commencement of the Normal School took place on the evening of Friday, June 22, 1880, at the Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Delaware Avenue and West Tupper Street, now the home of Babeville. The evening ceremonies included an oration entitled “The Southern Exodus” by Mr. Charles A. Thompson, the subject of which was the “condition of the unfortunate black people of the South.” The principal, Henry B. Buckham, then singled out Charles in his address to the audience.
Of one member of the class I deem it right to say a word individually. Mr. Charles A. Thompson was one of two colored youth who entered the Normal School from No. 13 five years ago. [Most evidence suggests that both black students came from the Vine Street School No. 9, but perhaps they had associations with both grammar schools.] One of these left soon after entering on account of poor health, and the other graduates today. All his teachers bear cheerful testimony to Mr. Thompson’s fidelity and worthiness as a student. The fact that though living in the eastern part of the city he has been late at school but once in five years and absent but eleven days, and then through sickness, will show you, in part, what stuff he is made of. He has been in no sense a pet in school; in all respects the same has been required of him as of others, and he has, as matter of course, been treated by his schoolmates and teachers according to his deserts. But it is something for one of his race to have earned such a diploma as he now receives, and I commend him to the favorable regard of this community as one by whom much good may be done among his own people, or wherever the Providence of God may open the way for him.
By today's standards, Buckham’s comments may seem condescending and racist. Taken in the context of the time, however, it is likely that his words were meant to be complimentary and encouraging. Regardless, upon his graduation, Charles Augustus Thompson achieved another first in his long academic career, becoming the first African American graduate of the Buffalo Normal School.
With his newly minted Buffalo Normal School diploma in hand, Charles' career as a teacher in the Buffalo public school system seemed all but guaranteed. Most public grammar-school teachers at the time had no formal training. His qualifications far exceeded the vast majority of the city’s public school teachers. In addition, a graduate with a background in "The Classics" was especially revered.
Although his profession is listed as “teacher” in Buffalo directories in the 1880s, he is never listed as a teacher in the Buffalo Public Schools in the comprehensive "Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Education." Buffalo had inadvertently set up a cruel paradox for Charles. By 1880, African American students were fully integrated into all of the public schools, but qualified African American teachers were not. In fact, the first full-time African American teacher in Buffalo, Ida Dora Fairbush, wasn't hired until 1897.
Unable to secure a permanent teaching position in the public school system, The Buffalo Evening News reported a year after his graduation that Charles had been granted permission to use the vacant School No. 9 building on Vine Street, which had been closed in 1880, to start a private school at his own expense. It is easy to surmise that a one-teacher, private grammar school in an inferior building, at one location, with fees (albeit low) could not compete with free, well-equipped public schools distributed conveniently throughout the city.
St. James Hall interior, undated, but before the fire of 1887. This rare photograph was conserved by the Garman Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State College in 2012.
Credit: Courtesy Buffalo History Museum
Shortly after the debut of Thompson’s night school, Charles, then 23 years old, attended Buffalo Central High School for about 20 weeks. Established in 1852, Central remained the only public high school in Buffalo until 1897. Once again, he found himself in the extreme minority as one of only two African Americans out of a total of 376 students. His curriculum was extremely unusual. He took only Latin (4 courses) and Greek (3 courses), and only from the master teacher, Henry P. Emerson.
There is evidence that Thompson was also developing his talent as a motivational speaker during this time. The A.M.E. Zion Church in Rochester was already well-known as home to Frederick Douglass and The North Star abolitionist paper. In 1882, Charles delivered an address at Zion entitled “Knowledge and Fame," in which he spoke about the necessity of education for African Americans. Rochester's Democrat and Chronical said that "he spoke in a clear and intelligent manner, and has no perceptible difficulty in handling the English language."
While Charles maintained his interest in becoming a public school teacher, he may have come to the realization that he needed to move to an urban area with a larger black population and with a segregated public school system—one that required black teachers and administrators to teach black children. Memphis seemed to fit the bill. Charles taught at the segregated Memphis Kortrecht Grammar School in 1884 and soon became principal at the Broadway Street School.
The Buffalo Normal School was originally located on Jersey Street, between 13th and 14th streets prior to its move to the present location on Elmwood Avenue in 1931. Initially, the Normal School was an alternative to high school, not to college/university. Only starting in 1905 was high school graduation a requirement for admission.
Credit: Private collection
Charles then returned to Western New York to study at the University of Rochester. He spent his freshman year studying remotely in Memphis, followed by three years in Rochester and, in due time, graduated with a bachelor's degree. During his tenure, he gave another speech at the African Episcopal Zion Church. Part of the proceeds were used to pay for his tuition. In 1891, as with the Buffalo Normal School 11 years prior, he became the first African American graduate of the University of Rochester.
Charles returned to Memphis after graduation. Not yet finished with his education, he became a student of theology in 1891 and was soon ordained as a minister of the A.M.E. Church. He joined the West Tennessee Annual Conference of the A.M.E. Church and preached in various pulpits throughout the Memphis region whenever asked. Charles also resumed his teaching career. He became the principal of the Porter School in 1892 and remained in this position for 15 years. The Porter School had previously been a white school, but had been converted to a black school while Charles was in Rochester. He also took on additional volunteer administrative responsibilities. He was the president of both the Whittier Historical Association, devoted to the Quaker poet, and the Tennessee State Teachers Association.
Charles married fellow teacher Charlotte (Lotta) G. Dickerson in 1895, and the couple soon welcomed two sons, Charles Jr. and Oliver. Unfortunately, Lotta died in 1901 and their 14-month-old son, Oscar, who suffered from epilepsy, died 6 days later. Charles married his second wife, Fannie B. Wright, a music teacher, in 1905.
Perhaps to prepare himself for his next profession, Charles then attended the Howe Institute (1906-1907), where he studied shorthand and typewriting. In 1907, the family moved to Washington, DC. During his 27 years in Washington, Charles pursued many diverse occupations and educational opportunities—probably several simultaneously. He was a clerk/inspector for the U.S. Treasury Department for 13 years, during which time he took occasional leaves of absence, most likely to continue attending school. He was a student of medicine (1908-1911) at Howard Medical College, an historically black research university, but did not receive a degree. In 1913, he was ordained as a minister of the Presbytery of Washington and became pastor of Fairmont Heights Presbyterian Church. He later attended the African American Central Chiropractic College and was awarded the Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1924 at 66 years old. He was a practicing chiropractor well into his 70s.
Fannie Thompson died in 1932, and after a 20-month illness, Charles followed her two years later. He died on May 17, 1934. He was buried in the segregated, nonsectarian, African American Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, in Suitland, MD, Section 1, line 341, grave 4. There is no grave marker.
The life of Charles Augustus Thompson serves as a model for overcoming adversity, blazing new trails, becoming a lifelong learner and working for the benefit of mankind. He was truly a Renaissance man.
