Celebrating the Legacy of Alger Adams '32
17 April 2020 Celebrating the Legacy of Alger Adams 32
The Colleges will honor the Rev. Dr. Alger L. Adams 32, D.D. 83 the first black man to receive a degree from Hobart by celebrating and reflecting on his remarkable life, career and legacy online.
Traditionally, the HWS community gathers on campus for the annual Alger L. Adams 32 Academic Excellence Award Dinner. However, because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the dinner and ceremony have been canceled.
A new website features a timeline of Dr. Adams life and accomplishments and includes remarks from this years intended dinner keynote speaker, Dr. Adams daughter, Patricia Adams. As the dinner is also used to honor students of color who, like Adams himself, have overcome major obstacles to become academically successful, lists ofthose receiving this years awards are also available. The website also features some of Dr. Adams art, artwork of Adams created by students and a short video on the history of Geneva in Adams time created by local historian John Marks.
In 1928, Dr. Adams arrived in Geneva from Omaha, Neb., only to discover that Hobart College, which had granted him a scholarship, would not house him because he was black. With the encouragement of the African-American community in Geneva, which welcomed him with open arms, Dr. Adams graduated magna cum laude with degrees in Greek, English and psychology and was named to Phi Beta Kappa.
Adams went on to attend the General Theological Seminary in Manhattan and founded churches outside New York City before leaving the active ministry to devote himself to civil rights initiatives, the arts and his community. A novelist, painter, musician and lifetime member of the NAACP, Adams had a creative spirit shaped by a sense of service.
Visit the Dr. Alger L. Adams 32 page here.