Prudence Crandall Museum

Prudence Crandall Museum Museum is the site of the 1831-1834 Canterbury Female Boarding School; a National Historic Landmark & International Site of Conscience. "Crandall v.

The Prudence Crandall Museum is the site of the Canterbury Female Boarding School and a National Historic Landmark located in Canterbury, CT. In 1832, Crandall, the white principal of the Canterbury Female Boarding School, was approached by a young Black woman named Sarah Harris asking to attend the school. Encouraged by conversations with both Harris and Maria Davis, a Black woman who shared copi

es of the Abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator" with her, Crandall agreed to admit Harris. When residents protested the school’s integration and parents threatened to withdraw their students, Crandall closed her school and reopened in 1833 for non-white students. Students traveled from several states. Connecticut responded by passing the “Black Law,” which prevented out-of-state Black and Brown people from attending school in Connecticut towns without local town approval. Crandall was arrested, spent one night in jail, and faced three court trials before the case was dismissed. In September 1834, a nighttime mob attack closed the school. These events made national and international news in the 1830s and galvanized the burgeoning Abolitionist movement. Many of the students, such as Julia Williams, Mary Miles, and Mary Harris, went on to become educators, reformers, and leaders in their communities. Connecticut" impacted two U.S. Supreme Court decisions and laid the framework for the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Prudence Crandall Museum is a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Owned by the State of Connecticut, the Museum is operated by the State Historic Preservation Office.

Yesterday docents from the Oliver Ellsworth Homestead toured the museum--Oliver Ellsworth was the father of William Wolc...
06/01/2026

Yesterday docents from the Oliver Ellsworth Homestead toured the museum--Oliver Ellsworth was the father of William Wolcott Ellsworth, Prudence Crandall's lead defense attorney.

The Prudence Crandall Museum will be closed Monday, 5/25, for Memorial Day.
05/25/2026

The Prudence Crandall Museum will be closed Monday, 5/25, for Memorial Day.

The Town of Canterbury will hold it's annual Memorial Day Ceremony.
05/22/2026

The Town of Canterbury will hold it's annual Memorial Day Ceremony.

Comic-Con International has nominated "Surrounded" for a Will Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work!!! Wishing Wilfr...
05/21/2026

Comic-Con International has nominated "Surrounded" for a Will Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work!!! Wishing Wilfrid Lupano, Stephane Fert, and NBM Graphic Novels best of luck!

05/08/2026

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! The Prudence Crandall Museum is once again participating in the Digital Backpack program, offering a 50% discount on admission to all public and private CT school staff (June--September)!

The museum opens for the season Friday, May 8th! Get your advance-purchase tickets at the link below--we hope to see you...
05/03/2026

The museum opens for the season Friday, May 8th! Get your advance-purchase tickets at the link below--we hope to see you this summer!

Guided conversational tour of the Prudence Crandall Museum, site of the Canterbury Female Boarding School, a National Historic Landmark.

Printed Protest:Abolition & Anti-Slavery Materials from the Prudence Crandall Museum CollectionThis exhibit, is on displ...
04/29/2026

Printed Protest:
Abolition & Anti-Slavery Materials from the Prudence Crandall Museum Collection

This exhibit, is on display at the Otis Library Atrium in Norwich, CT until tomorrow, April 30.

Artifact: Green Wedgwood Jasperware abolition commemorative tray, 1983.

Printed Protest:Abolition & Anti-Slavery Materials from the Prudence Crandall Museum CollectionSarah Harris Fayerweather...
04/28/2026

Printed Protest:
Abolition & Anti-Slavery Materials from the Prudence Crandall Museum Collection

Sarah Harris Fayerweather kept a close friendship and correspondence with Helen Benson Garrison, wife of William Lloyd Garrison. On June 5, 1863, Helen Benson Garrison wrote to Sarah Harris Fayerweather the following:

“We received a beautiful cake from you previous to the New York meetings, for which we return our most hearty thanks. It came in the best order, and the sight of it daily reminds me how kind and thoughtful you always are…”

Helen Benson Garrison later mentions in the letter wanting to share the cake with “my particular anti-slavery friends.”

Taken from A Profile in Dedication: Sarah Harris and the Fayerweather Family,
by Carl R. Woodward, 1973.

Address

1 South Canterbury Road (Junctions Of Routes 14 & 169)
Canterbury, CT
06331

Telephone

(860) 546-7800

Website

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