Charles Sumner Centenary: Historical Address The American Negro Academy. Occasional Papers No. 14

In this moving historical address, delivered at a 1911 centennial ceremony for a towering 19th‑century statesman, the speaker paints a portrait of a man whose intellect and moral conviction shaped a generation. He likens Sumner to mythic heroes, showing how study, travel, and a reverence for lasting principles of law and justice forged his character. Early legal training becomes a stepping stone toward a broader quest for universal truths.

Grimke then outlines Sumner’s formative years, noting his voracious reading of jurists and his eye‑opening tour of Europe that acted as an intellectual crucible. In foreign capitals he sensed a common human thread beneath diverse cultures, concluding that all peoples share a kinship beyond color or creed. Back in Boston, the young scholar entered politics without personal ambition, gaining a Senate seat at forty through the unsolicited confidence of his peers. The address captures the early momentum of a career built on principle rather than persuasion.