chair to Seymour Library At the February meeting of the Seymour Library Board, George Rich, president of the Brockport Alumni Association, presented a Boston Rocker to the library in memory of Fannie Barrier Williams. The rocking chair was accepted by Sean Wilcox and the Library Board. John Izzo, chair of the Alumni Association's Recognition Committee, also participated in the presentation. Williams was one of those honored at the July 2002 Alumni Reunion for having made significant contributions to the college, community or country. The Hall of Heritage Award, which is the Alumni's most distinguished award, consists of a citation and a Boston Rocker. Since Williams was given the award posthumously, it was determined that her chair be donated to the local library in recognition of her local and national activism and for her interest in education and libraries. She was the first black woman to hold a position on the Chicago Library Board. In 1870, Frances "Fannie" Barrier became the first black woman to graduate from the State Normal School at Brockport, which is now known as SUNY Brockport. She was born in Brockport but went on to become a leading associate in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Her many other accomplishments were enumerated by Village Historian Bill Andrews when a historical marker was placed outside her family's former home on Erie Street in November 1998. After her husband's death, Williams returned to this home where she resided until her own death in 1944. |
