POSSIBLY UNIQUE COPY
367
●
(MILITARY—REVOLUTIONARY WAR.) ATTUCKS, CRISPUS.
STEPHENSON, ISAIAH H.
Stephenson’s Oration on Attucks.
Printed broadside.
Folio (12
7
⁄
8
x8
1
⁄
2
inches); creases where folded, paper lightly and evenly toned.
[Harpers Ferry, WV], 1893
[800/1,200]
A RARE BROADSIDE PRINTING OF THE VALEDICTORY ADDRESS
delivered by Isaiah
Stephenson at the commencement exercises at Storer College in 1893. Storer was one of the
oldest black colleges in the U.S., founded in 1869 by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Stephenson’s
“Oration” tells the story of Attucks’ life as a slave, his escape and how he came to be in Boston
that day in 1770. We could find nothing more about Isaiah Stephenson other than the fact
that he was living in Arlington, Virginia at the time this address was delivered and later
became an attorney, settling in Anderson, Indiana. Given the fact that there were only 200 stu-
dents at Storer at the time of this printing, we can assume that no more than 200 copies of this
broadside were printed—and probably at the college on a hand press. No copies of this Oration
could be located in OCLC or any other reference. Storer closed its doors in 1955, and its hold-
ings are presently stored at the University of West Virginia.
