Page, Inman Edward (1853-1935)
Role: Brown University class of 1877Dates: first African American graduate of Brown
Portrait Location: Partridge 200
Artist: Barros, Matthew (1925-2010)
Portrait Date: 1977
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 24 1/2 x 19 1/2
Framed Dimensions: 30 1/4
Brown Portrait Number: 223
Brown Historical Property Number: 2293
Matthew Barros's 1977 portrait of Edward Inman Page was based on Page's senior class photograph for the Brown University class of 1877. Page, who was Brown's first African-American student, was born into slavery on December 29, 1853 in Warrenton, Virginia where his parents, Horace and Elizabeth Page, were slaves on a plantation. During the Civil War the family managed to escape from the plantation where the ten-year-old Page worked as a house boy. They fled through Union lines and moved to Washington D.C. where he began his educational endeavors. First he attended a private school for African-American children, after which he entered Howard University. In 1877 Page received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University. George Washington Milford, a fellow African-American student, also graduated from Brown at the same time as Page. Page was elected Class Orator at Graduation received much acclaim for his eloquent speech. The Providence Journal described him as "an orator of rare ability, speaking with weight and sententiousness ? and at times rising to a profound and impressive eloquence."
Milford went on to become a lawyer and Page began a long and impressive career in several educational institutions. Ralph Ellison has pointed out how Page dedicated his life to implanting the New England tradition of education to the African-American population in the American South. In fact Page was President of four colleges before his retirement. In Going to the Territory Ellison also addresses the strong impact Page had on the youth who studied under his leadership. Ellison says Page moved many of his students to yearnings to possess some of his implicit authority, some of his wisdom and eloquence. Many of Page's students went on to serve as community leaders and teachers themselves.
Brown University sought to emphasize and recognize Inman Page's achievements by giving him an honorary Masters Degree in 1918. He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Wilberforce University. Today the Inman Page Black Alumni Council at Brown University takes its name from this visionary leader.
Page worked as a teacher in the Southern part of the United States most of his life. First he taught at Natchez in Mississippi. In 1878 he married Zelia R. Ball with whom he had two daughters, Mary Pyrtle and Zelia N. Breaux. Page continued his career as the vice-president of the Lincoln Institution in Jefferson City, Missouri from 1878-80 and then as its president until 1898. Page was also the president of the Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma. Then he became president of the Western Baptist College, Macon, Missouri. Next he became president of Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1918-20 followed by two years as principal of Douglas High School in Oklahoma City. From 1922 to 1923 he was president of Lincoln University, after which he returned to Oklahoma City. For the next twelve years Page was a supervisor of the separate schools . He retired from this position in May, 1935, and upon his retirement was named principal emeritus in honor of his contributions to the school system of the Oklahoma City.
Inman Page died in Oklahoma City on December 21, 1935. The funeral was held at the Calvary Baptist church with Pastor Rev. A. M. Johnson in charge. The Oklahoma City Black Dispatch reported that hundreds of friends and family attended the funeral where brief but impressive remarks were made regarding his life and character. The paper reported that more than 2000 people viewed the remains following the sermon.
Matthias "Matthew" Barros, the artist of this portrait of Inman Page, was a Providence native and worked for Brown University from 1968 until 1986 when he retired as superintendent of housekeeping. In an interview with the Brown Daily Herald the artist explained his mother had taught him to paint pictures, and that he had been painting for many years when he was commissioned to paint this portrait for the centennial observation of Inman Page's graduation from Brown in 1977. During the interview Barros recalled that it took him about a month and a half to paint the Inman Page portrait, whose life story and achievements Barros found inspiring. In 2004 Mathew Barros's painting was sent to the Williamstown, Massachusetts, Art Conservation Center for treatment of a tear on Page's eyebrow. At that time the entire painting was cleaned, and loose and cupping paint was also stabilized.
Matthew Barros died in Providence on May 14, 2010, at age 85.