May 24: Prudence Crandall

On May 24, 1833, the Connecticut General Assembly passed what became known as the Connecticut “Black Law,” a law designed to stop educator Prudence Crandall from teaching Black female students at her school in Canterbury, Connecticut. Crandall had opened one of the first schools in the United States dedicated to the education of Black girls, but many local residents opposed the school. The new law made it illegal to educate African American students from outside Connecticut without local permission. Crandall refused.