Elihu Burritt
Elihu Burritt | |
---|---|
philanthropist | |
Notable work | Walks in the Black Country and its Green Border-Land |
United States Consul to Birmingham, England | |
In office 1864–1868 | |
President | Abraham Lincoln |
Elihu Burritt (December 8, 1810 – March 6, 1879) was an American diplomat, philanthropist, social activist, and blacksmith.[1] He was also a prolific lecturer, journalist and writer who traveled widely in the United States and Europe.
Early life
Elihu Burritt was born December 8, 1810, in New Britain, Connecticut. He was a descendant of William and Elizabeth Burritt from Stratford, Connecticut.[2] He first worked as a blacksmith. As an adult he was active as a lecturer in many causes, opposing slavery, working for temperance, and trying to achieve world peace.[3]
In the early 1840s Burritt began to tour New England, speaking against war and promoting brotherhood.[4] His sobriquet "Learned Blacksmith" arose from a period when he earned a living as a blacksmith in Worcester, Massachusetts.[5] He founded a weekly paper, the Christian Citizen, in Worcester in 1844.[3]
By this time, Burritt had emerged at the head of a group of radical
Move to England
In the summer of 1846, the disillusioned Burritt left the cautious Beckwith, and went to England. He stayed initially with
During a trip abroad in 1846–47, Burritt was touched by the suffering of the Irish peasantry.[1]
League of Universal Brotherhood
Burritt founded the peace organization the League of Universal Brotherhood in 1846.
"
Burritt organized the
A second "Peace Congress" met in
Later life
Burritt's first stay in Britain ended in 1853. He returned to New England, taking an interest in farming and agricultural methods.[3]
Burritt advocated that Britain, which introduced the Uniform Penny Post in 1840, should introduce an international "ocean penny post" and reduce the cost from one shilling (12 pence) to threepence. He argued this would increase international correspondence, trade, and hence universal brotherhood. He urged the use of illustrated propaganda envelopes. Postal rates were gradually reduced, but his objective was not entirely achieved in his lifetime.
In 1856–1857 Burritt spent much time on
Burritt was appointed United States consul in Birmingham, England by Abraham Lincoln in 1864. When Ulysses S. Grant was elected in 1868, he was not reappointed to the post.[3] He died on March 6, 1879, in New Britain, Connecticut.
Selected publications
Burritt published at least 37 books and articles. They included:
- Sparks from the Anvil
- Ten Minute Talks.
- A Journal of a Visit of Three Days to Skibbereen (1847). It made residents of the United States more aware of the Great Famine of Ireland.
- Walks in the Black Country and its Green Border-Land. Recorded his thoughts on the industrialization of communities in Birmingham and the Black Country, and brought the latter term into widespread common usage.[14] It was the third of the travel books he wrote about Britain for American readers.[3] He was the author of the famous early description of the Black Country as "black by day and red by night", adding appreciatively that it "cannot be matched, for vast and varied production, by any other space of equal radius on the surface of the globe".[15][16]
- A Walk from London to John O'Groat's, with notes by the way (1864) and A walk from London to Land's End and back, with notes by the way (1865): These two books are thought to have influenced John and Robert Naylor who undertook the first recorded walk from Land's End to John o' Groats in 1874 and published their book on it in 1916[17]
Legacy
Each August, New Marlborough, Massachusetts, hosts an annual crafts and community fair in honor of Elihu Burritt. Burritt resided in the Berkshire County Town in 1830. He is one of several blacksmiths who may have inspired the poem "The Village Blacksmith" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.[18]
Burritt College, which operated in Spencer, Tennessee, from 1848 to 1939, was named in his honor.[19]
The library at the Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut is named in his honor – The Elihu Burritt Library. It holds an archive of his work and correspondence.[20] Another archive is held as part of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.[21]
See also
- List of peace activists
- Black Country flagthe colors of which inspired by his description of the Black Country
References
- ^ a b c d Arthur Weinberg and Lila Shaffer Weinberg. Instead of Violence: Writings by the Great Advocates of Peace and Nonviolence Throughout History. New York, Grossman Publishers, 1963.(p. 340-45).
- ^ "Burritt Genealogy – Descendants of William Burritt – Six Generations". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2012-03-27. Genealogy Central
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10513. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 9781545721803. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ISBN 9780199579341. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ISBN 9789080013414.
- ^ ISBN 9781400867493.
- ^ Chapman, Gordon (23 February 2006). "'Ackle' – a word causing some hassle!". Black Country Bugle. Staffordshire Newspapers. Archived from the original on 23 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ISBN 1848684525
- ^ Julie L. Holcomb, Moral Commerce: Quakers and the Transatlantic Boycott of the Slave Labor Economy. Cornell University Press, 2016, p. 180.
- ISBN 9780198226741.
- ISBN 9781400867493.
- ISBN 9780313331435. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ Mugridge, Stuart (2007). "Mapping The Black Country" (PDF). Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ "Press Pack" (PDF). Black Country Living Museum. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
- ^ Burritt, Elihu (1868). . London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston – via Wikisource.
- ^ "From John o' Groat's to Lands End by Robert Naylor and John Naylor". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-7627-4850-1
- ^ Francis Marion West, ‘’Pioneer of the Cumberlands: A History of Burritt College’’ (master’s thesis, Tennessee Technological University, 1969). Accessed at ‘’Restoration History’’ website, 4 March 2015.
- ^ "Elihu Burritt Library". Central Connecticut State University. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ "Elihu Burritt Papers (DG 096)". Swarthmore College. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
External links
- Works by Elihu Burritt at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Elihu Burritt at Internet Archive
- Elihu Burritt Bicentennial Events at Central Connecticut State University
- Twenty Reasons for Total Abstinence from Slave-Labour Produce (185-) – at the Antislavery Literature Project
- Contents of the Elihu Burritt Archives at the Elihu Burritt Library
- Burritt, Elihu (1846), .