Wright, Richard Robert, 1855-1947

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Richard Robert Wright, Sr. was born in Dalton, Georgia in 1855 to Richard Robert Waddell and Harriet Lynch Waddell. Shortly after the Civil War, the family moved to Cuthbert, Georgia where Wright attended school. Wright later moved to Atlanta and attended Storrs School, a forerunner of Atlanta University. He wasamong the original eighty-nine students who entered the University in October 1869. He graduated from their preparatory course in 1872 and from the college as valedictorian in 1876. In 1879, Wright received his A.M. degree from the same University. After graduation, Wright moved to Cuthbert, Georgia where Wright founded the Howard Normal School. During this time, he met Lydia Elizabeth Howard. The two married on June 7, 1877and went on to have nine children.

In 1880, he became principal of Edmund Asa Ware High School, the first black high school in Georgia supported by city funds. During this time, Wright called the first convention of black teachers in Georgia in 1878, and presided as President of that group for three years. In 1880, this organization became the Georgia State Teachers Association. Briefly in 1898, Wright was appointed as Major and paymaster of the United States Volunteers in the United States Army. He was the first African American to serve as an Army paymaster and was the highest ranking African-American officer during the Spanish-American War. He remained at Ware until he was appointed President of Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youths, now Savannah State University.

From 1891 to 1921, Wright served as the first president of the College, Georgia’s first state supported institution of higher education for African-American citizens. The institution came into existence as a product of the 1890 Land-Grant Act (which amended the 1862 Land-Grant Act) to provide “colleges for colored citizens” who were denied enrollment in white land grant institutions in Southern states. The curriculum was a typical classical program of its era with an additional requirement that each student engage in one of the occupational areas offered at the college. By the end of Wright's tenure as president, enrollment had increased to more than four hundred students. Additionally, he expanded the curriculum to include a division for teacher training and courses in agriculture and mechanical arts.

Wright resigned as President in June 1921 and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There he opened the only African-American owned bank in the North, Citizens & Southern Bank & Trust Co. During this time, Wright attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and cofounded the National Negro Bankers association (NNBA). He also campaigned for numerous causes, including "National Freedom Day," an annual celebration of the adoption of the 13th Amendment. Richard R. Wright, Sr. died in Philadelphia in 1947. A year later, on June 30, 1948, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming February 1 as National Freedom Day.

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