Honorable
William D. Crum
United States Minister to Liberia
In office
1910–1912
PresidentWilliam Taft
Preceded byErnest Lyon
Succeeded byGeorge Washington Buckner
Personal details
Born(1859-02-09)February 9, 1859
Charleston, South Carolina
DiedDecember 7, 1912(1912-12-07) (aged 53)
Charleston, South Carolina
Resting placeCharleston, South Carolina
NationalityAfrican American
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEllen Craft Crum
OccupationPhysician

William Demosthenes Crum, alternatively known as William Demos Crum, (February 9, 1859 – December 7, 1912) was an African American physician and diplomat.

Biography

Crum was born on February 9, 1859, in Charleston, South Carolina.[1][2][3] He was born a free man of color, the youngest of seven children, between Darius Crum, a German American, and Charlotte C. Crum a free woman of color. He grew up on his father's plantation which used forty-three slaves prior to the end of the Civil War.[4] He would graduate valedictorian of his class from the Avery Normal Institute in 1875.[5][6] He would receive a medical degree from Howard University in 1881 before returning to Charleston and working at the McClennan Hospital and Training School for Nurses. He would go on to marry Ellen Crum, the daughter of fugitive slave abolitionists William and Ellen Craft, who would later be a founder of the National Federation of Afro-American Women.[7][8][9][10] His career as a physician would also take off, noted for his work in the field of diagnostics and his studying of tuberculosis.[5]

As he worked in the hospital, Crum would become involved with politics, even serving as the chairman of the county Republican Party for more than two decades.[11] He would make ties and friendships with several prominent African Americans such as Whitefield Mckinlay, Harry C. Smith, T. Thomas Fortune, and most notably Booker T. Washington.[7][8][12] During this time he would, not only gain substantial wealth but, also serve as a delegate to every Republican National Conference from 1884 to 1904.[13] Some tragedy did however befall his wife's family, as her parents suffered financial ruin in 1890 and were forced to move to Charleston to live with their daughter; her mother and father would live there until they died in 1897 and 1900, respectively.[9][10][14] He would also make an attempt to run for postmaster of the city in 1892, but ultimately fail.[15][16]

In December 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Crum, on McKinlay's recommendation, as collector of customs for the port of Charleston to symbolize 'a door of hope' for southern African Americans.[15][17][18] Despite heavy local opposition, Crum was appointed in 1903, the first African American to hold the position, and would hold it until 1909.[6][11][19] The heavy opposition he faced had catapulted him onto the national stage. After Roosevelt left office, his successor and Vice President, William Howard Taft, considered Crum's status in Charleston to be a political liability. Rather than re-appoint Crum as collector of customs, President Taft offered him instead the post of Consul-General to Liberia.[8][20]

Crum accepted this compromise and went on to serve as the Minister Resident of the United States to Liberia from 1910 to 1912.[3][9][21][22] During his tenure he would attempt to aid the country resolve boundary disputes and stabilize its economy, but ultimately had little impact on it.[7]

During his diplomatic service in Monrovia, Crum contracted blackwater fever, a form of Malaria and was forced to resign his post in on 17 September 1912 and return to the United States. Crum never recovered and died on December 7, 1912, in Charleston, South Carolina, where he would be buried.[2][23][24]

References

  1. ↑ McCASKILL, BARBARA (2015). Love, Liberation, and Escaping Slavery: William and Ellen Craft in Cultural Memory. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-4724-0. JSTOR j.ctt17574x1.
  2. 1 2 "Dr William Demosthenes Crum". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  3. 1 2 Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Crown to Csoros". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  4. ↑ Ogburn, Floyd Jr. (March 15, 2013). "Crum, William Demos". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.38337. ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  5. 1 2 Middleton, Laura L. (1937). "Dr. William Crum". digital.tcl.sc.edu. University of Southern Carolina. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  6. 1 2 Service, U. S. Customs (1985). A Biographical Directory of the United States Customs Service, 1771-1989. The Service.
  7. 1 2 3 Appiah, Anthony; Gates (Jr.), Henry Louis (2005). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517055-9.
  8. 1 2 3 Powers, Bernard E. Jr. (2020-10-12). 101 African Americans Who Shaped South Carolina. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-64336-141-3.
  9. 1 2 3 DeRamus, Betty (February 2005). Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-8263-9.
  10. 1 2 Smith, Jessie Carney (1993). Epic Lives: One Hundred Black Women who Made a Difference. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-8103-9426-1.
  11. 1 2 Edgar, Walter (April 16, 2019). ""C" is for Crum, William Demosthenes (1859-1912)". South Carolina Public Radio. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  12. ↑ "TR Center - Telegram from Booker T. Washington to Theodore Roosevelt". www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  13. ↑ Egloff, Franklin R. (1980). Theodore Roosevelt, an American Portrait. Vantage Press. ISBN 978-0-533-04278-4.
  14. ↑ "Collection: Craft and Crum families papers | ArchivesSpace Public Interface". findingaids.library.cofc.edu. 2007. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  15. 1 2 Gatewood, Willard B. (1968-10-01). "William D. Crum: A Negro in Politics". The Journal of Negro History. 53 (4): 301–320. doi:10.2307/2716355. ISSN 0022-2992. JSTOR 2716355. S2CID 149497582.
  16. ↑ Woodson, Carter Godwin; Logan, Rayford Whittingham (1968). The Journal of Negro History. Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.
  17. ↑ Gates, Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (2008). The African American National Biography: Jones, Scipio-Moore, Kevin. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516019-2.
  18. ↑ Wilson, Woodrow (1967). Link, Arthur Stanley (ed.). The Papers of Woodrow Wilson. Princeton University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  19. ↑ Logan, Rayford W. (April 7, 2005). "Crum, William D(emos)". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.40902. ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  20. ↑ Norrell, Robert Jefferson; Norrell, Robert J. (2011-04-30). Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06037-1.
  21. ↑ "William Demos Crum". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  22. ↑ Blume, Kenneth J. (2010-02-12). The A to Z of U.S. Diplomacy from the Civil War to World War I. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1-4617-1902-1.
  23. ↑ Shellum, Brian G. (2010-02-01). Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment: The Military Career of Charles Young. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6803-6.
  24. ↑ Shellum, Brian G. (2018-08-01). African American Officers in Liberia: A Pestiferous Rotation, 1910-1942. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-64012-063-1.
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