Bill Text: SC S0743 | 2011-2012 | 119th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Bishop Daniel A. Payne
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-03-30 - Introduced and adopted [S0743 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2011-S0743-Introduced.html
A SENATE RESOLUTION
TO COMMEMORATE THE TWO HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY OF CHARLESTON NATIVE DANIEL ALEXANDER PAYNE, DISTINGUISHED AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH TEACHER, PREACHER, AND BISHOP, AND TO DECLARE APRIL 1, 2011, "BISHOP DANIEL A. PAYNE HOMECOMING OF AN EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATOR DAY."
Whereas, Charleston native, bishop, college president, educator, historian, poet, and philosopher Daniel Alexander Payne was one of the most distinguished personages of the nineteenth century; and
Whereas, Daniel Alexander Payne was born free, the son of London and Martha Payne, on Princess Street, now known as Swinton Lane, in the City of Charleston, South Carolina, on February 24, 1811; and
Whereas, Payne was educated at Minors' Moralist Society School in Charleston for two years and received instruction from Mr. Thomas S. Bonneau for another three years; and
Whereas, due to the lack of educational opportunities available to African Americans in Charleston at that time, Payne became a self-taught scholar, studying mathematics, physical science, and classical languages; and
Whereas, in 1829 at the age of eighteen, Payne opened a school on Tradd Street in Charleston dedicated to empowering African Americans by teaching them how to read and write; and
Whereas, on April 1, 1835, the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed law number 2639, prohibiting the education of African Americans, both free and enslaved; and
Whereas, with the passage of this law, Daniel Alexander Payne was forced to close his school and escape South Carolina; and
Whereas, in April 1865, Daniel Alexander Payne triumphantly returned to Charleston after thirty years in exile and reopened Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church forty years after it had been closed after the Denmark Vesy Insurrection; and
Whereas, cognizant of his outstanding contributions to the education of African Americans, the Senate takes great pleasure in recognizing and honoring Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne and in proclaiming that the spirit of his commitment to the education of black Americans is alive and thriving in South Carolina. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, commemorate the two hundredth birthday of Charleston native Daniel Alexander Payne, distinguished African Methodist Episcopal Church teacher, preacher, and bishop, and declare April 1, 2011, "Bishop Daniel A. Payne Homecoming of an Extraordinary Educator Day."
