The Foreign Service Journal, June 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2018 43 college, he became the first black student at the Connecticut Teachers College (now Central Connecticut State Uni- versity), graduating in 1853. In 1855, while in New Haven, Bassett married Eliza Park, and developed what became a four-decade friendship with the great abolition- ist, Frederick Douglass. He later became a teacher and principal at the Institute for Colored Youth, a Philadelphia high school. It was there that he came into his own as a voice for human rights, advocating equal treatment for black Americans and later helping Douglass recruit black soldiers for the Union Army during the Civil War. Just days after the Battle of Gettysburg, Bassett and other black leaders organized a recruiting drive for black soldiers. Bassett had the honor of being the second speaker of the night, making his speech immediately preceding Douglass. The follow- ing excerpt explains why he, too, was considered such an effective orator: My curiosity was piqued and I began researching Bassett’s background. What I found was an incredible story, which led me to write his biography: Hero of Hispaniola: America’s First Black Diplomat (Praeger, 2008). In 2001, the world celebrated when Colin Powell became the first African-American Secretary of State. But Bassett, who helped blaze the trail that would lead to Powell’s appointment, also deserves recognition. Not just because his 1869 appoint- ment by President Ulysses S. Grant as ambassador to Haiti and the Dominican Republic broke the color barrier, but because his courage and integrity would inspire later diplomats and defend- ers of human rights. A Proud History of Activism Born in Connecticut, on Oct. 16, 1833, Bassett came from an activist family. His grandparents were slaves, but his grandfather gained his freedom by volunteering to serve in the Revolutionary War. His father, also named Ebenezer, was mixed race, and his mother, Susan, was a Pequot Indian. His family worked hard to ensure that Ebenezer would receive the finest education possible. After attending a prep school, Wes- leyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, the young Bassett did something quite rare in the mid-1800s: not only did he attend Chris Teal at the Bassett family gravesite in New Haven, Connecticut, during the film shoot. COURTESYOFCHRISTEAL Ebenezer Bassett