September 6
On September 6, 1826, John Brown Russwurm became the first African American to graduate from Bowdoin College.
In 1826, John Brown Russwurm became the first African American to graduate from Bowdoin College in Maine. Subsequently becoming the third African American to graduate from an American college. Russwurm played a key role in founding The Freedom’s Journal, the first black owned newspaper in the U.S. He served as co-editor, before becoming the sole editor in 1827. After changing their stance on abolitionism and the civil rights moments, readers decreased leading to the publication to end in 1829.