Edward Garrison Draper

Edward Garrison Draper, Class of 1855, was born on January 1, 1834 in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a succesful tobacconist and cigar maker. Mr. Draper's father sent him to the public school for blacks in Philadelphia. Edward G. Draper entered Dartmouth College in 1851. while at Dartmouth, he decided to become a lawyer. He graduated in 1855 and was unsuccessful in obtaining training in Maryland. Charles Gilman, a retired attorney, agreed to instruct Mr. Draper. Mr. Draper was denied many necessary components of training because he was black. He finished study in Boston where he could attend court like other law students. After being examined by Judge Lee, Mr. Draper recieved a certificate stating his qualifications to be admitted to the Bar in Maryland IF he were a white citizen. Then, Mr. Draper left Baltimore for Liberia. Upon arrival in Monrovia, Liberia, Draper fell ill. He died two weeks before his twenty-fifth birthday in Cape Palmas, Liberia of pulmonary consumption (tuberculosis) on December 18, 1858. In his short life he demonstrated that a black man could become a trained attorney in the midst of a slave state.