John Chavis– First African American College Graduate First African American to graduate from College in the United States

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate In 1778, while still a teenager, he fought in the revolutionary war as a member of the Virginia Fifth Regiment.

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate In 1792 he was accepted into the College of New Jerseys’ Theological School, later renamed Princeton University

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate In 1794 he transferred to Liberty Hall Academy in Virginia, which would eventually become Washington and Lee University. He graduated in 1799

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate In 1808 he opened a private school in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he taught black and white children. Some of North Carolina’s most powerful whites sent their children to Chavis to be educated.

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate In his later years he became vocal in his support of the abolitionist movement.

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate North Carolina passed laws restricting free African Americans freedom of movement and barred their education

John Chavis– First African American College Graduate Barred from his profession he became more vocal in his condemnation of slavery and fought for the rights of African American citizens.

References For more information about him, look up the book written by Helen Chavis Othow about his life. The book was published in 2001