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Family of LU founding father donates priceless documents to school
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By Kris Hilgedick
News Tribune
A priceless collection of Civil War-era letters - illuminating the life of Lt. Richard Baxter Foster, a founder of Lincoln University - was deposited within the Inman E. Page Library Archives on Monday.
The 16 letters, in pristine condition, date from March 7, 1863, to Oct. 17, 1865. They appear to have been penned on quality stationary in brown or black ink.
Supported by his family, Foster's great-grandson, Fred Foster Fuller, visited the campus Monday to deliver the letters and a share remarks about his grandfather's contributions to Lincoln's founding.
The letters were only a part of a series of documents being donated to LU by the family.
Other items include a letter to Foster from his brother, Daniel, who was killed in the war; an original photograph from 1931 of the unveiling of a oil painting of Foster (since lost to posterity); a letter written by Foster giving his account of the attack of Free-State men on Fort Titus Kansas in 1856; 18 papers from Foster's military file; genealogical material; and various other articles, booklets and news clippings.
Taken in their entirety, the letters reveal a man who was dedicated to high ideals of abolition and education for all people.
Many of the items were carefully stored by Foster's grand-daughter, Dorothy, despite multiple family moves.
“Our mother kept many of the Foster records and assembled in a book of her “Memoirs” before she died at age 94 in 1990,” said Fuller.
Some of the most relevant information relating to the founding of Lincoln University comes from a letter from Foster to his wife on March 30, 1865: “Dearest Lucy .... I think I can see the day not very far off that we will live together in comfortable circumstances and look back on all our hard, long struggles as the freed slaves already look back on their former state of bondage. As the same time I expect to continue in the work that I am now engaged in (for the elevation of the downtrodden Negro) as long as I live. This war is breaking up the ice laying the foundations - all the work is to be done hereafter.”
Foster - who led an African-American regiment - goes on to say that 25 men of the group, three other leaders and himself planned to settle in Missouri to “put up a mill & school house.”
Foster's family later lived in deplorable conditions in Jefferson City, as he tried to teach school in a leaky, humble building. In the beginning only two students sat in his class, but soon more arrived.
Grace Foster Brown, his daughter, remembers the family's journey: “Coming in a ‘steamship around the bend,' Father, Mother and their eight sons founded their school in Jefferson City. They could not rent a building, not even a church. Everyone was opposed to having a school for Negroes in their midst.”
But ultimately the school gained a toe-hold in the community, growing into the institution it is today.
“This is a very significant and historical event in the life of Lincoln University,” said President Carolyn Mahoney, noting the school was established in 1866 through the efforts of Civil War veterans, such as Foster. “They fought bravely and toiled diligently to create LU.”
The 16 letters, in pristine condition, date from March 7, 1863, to Oct. 17, 1865. They appear to have been penned on quality stationary in brown or black ink.
Supported by his family, Foster's great-grandson, Fred Foster Fuller, visited the campus Monday to deliver the letters and a share remarks about his grandfather's contributions to Lincoln's founding.
The letters were only a part of a series of documents being donated to LU by the family.
Other items include a letter to Foster from his brother, Daniel, who was killed in the war; an original photograph from 1931 of the unveiling of a oil painting of Foster (since lost to posterity); a letter written by Foster giving his account of the attack of Free-State men on Fort Titus Kansas in 1856; 18 papers from Foster's military file; genealogical material; and various other articles, booklets and news clippings.
Taken in their entirety, the letters reveal a man who was dedicated to high ideals of abolition and education for all people.
Many of the items were carefully stored by Foster's grand-daughter, Dorothy, despite multiple family moves.
“Our mother kept many of the Foster records and assembled in a book of her “Memoirs” before she died at age 94 in 1990,” said Fuller.
Some of the most relevant information relating to the founding of Lincoln University comes from a letter from Foster to his wife on March 30, 1865: “Dearest Lucy .... I think I can see the day not very far off that we will live together in comfortable circumstances and look back on all our hard, long struggles as the freed slaves already look back on their former state of bondage. As the same time I expect to continue in the work that I am now engaged in (for the elevation of the downtrodden Negro) as long as I live. This war is breaking up the ice laying the foundations - all the work is to be done hereafter.”
Foster - who led an African-American regiment - goes on to say that 25 men of the group, three other leaders and himself planned to settle in Missouri to “put up a mill & school house.”
Foster's family later lived in deplorable conditions in Jefferson City, as he tried to teach school in a leaky, humble building. In the beginning only two students sat in his class, but soon more arrived.
Grace Foster Brown, his daughter, remembers the family's journey: “Coming in a ‘steamship around the bend,' Father, Mother and their eight sons founded their school in Jefferson City. They could not rent a building, not even a church. Everyone was opposed to having a school for Negroes in their midst.”
But ultimately the school gained a toe-hold in the community, growing into the institution it is today.
“This is a very significant and historical event in the life of Lincoln University,” said President Carolyn Mahoney, noting the school was established in 1866 through the efforts of Civil War veterans, such as Foster. “They fought bravely and toiled diligently to create LU.”
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