Laura Matilda Towne (1825-1901) was a pioneering white woman educator of the first newly freed enslaved people of the South.
Towne was born in 1825 to abolitionist parents. She grew up mostly in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
She was educated in homeopathic medicine and education theory and practice.
A year after the Union Army had taken over South Carolina's Sea Islands, Towne moved to St. Helena Island to be a part of the Port Royal Experiment, the first large-scale project designed to help the freed men, women and children transition from bondage. It was 1862, and after beginning her work as a medical healer, Towne founded the Penn School along with her lifelong friend and companion Ellen Murray.
The Penn School had a rigorous curriculum and ultimately a teacher training program. Towne ran the school for 40 years and during that time she and Murray adopted several African-American children who they raised as their own.
Towne died in 1901 of influenza. She was a beloved figure of the community and greatly missed.--Heidi Durrow
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Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by The New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. Copyright 2014.
