More than 70 years before Brown v. Board of Education ruled school desegregation unconstitutional nationally, Meadville outlawed desegregation in its own school system. The Allegheny College Center for Political Participation hosted Rev. Sarah Roncolato, ’80, to tell this story as the keynote speaker for this year’s Constitution Day event. Roncolato, who has spent years researching the topic, recounted the story of Meadville citizen Elias Allen, who led the effort to desegregate Meadville’s schools in the 1880s. She spoke during the lunch hour in the Tippie Alumni Center on the 17th to approximately 50 people, and also hosted a tombstone dedication for Elias Allen’s grave in Greendale Cemetery last Saturday, Sept. 20.

Roncolato spoke about deciding how to title the event, “An American Story: Mr. Elias Allen, Judge Pearson Church and the 1880 School Desegregation Case,” which encapsulated the story’s main theme.

“When a small group of us met last spring to talk about this lunchtime event, we considered possible titles for the talk,” Roncolato told the Tippie audience. “As I thought, it became clear to me that what we’re talking about today is an American story. A story which has been repeated thousands of times. It’s a story that asks the questions especially relevant on this Constitution Day, especially relevant in this moment of American history: Who is the we, in ‘we the people?’ Whose rights are protected by the constitution, and what does it take to stake claim to those rights? What is the role of judges in securing those rights, and which children have the right to quality education?”

Roncolato described the conditions in which the Allen family fought for their children to attend any school.

“In 1870, a lawyer named William Bole gave a speech in front of the courthouse, disagreeing with the desegregation of schools for the following reasons,” Roncolato said.

One of several reasons that Roncolato read from Bole’s speech included, “After fighting for the Union in the Civil War, he felt it was ‘excessive’ to be expected to also educate Black people.”

Nevertheless, Allen fought to enroll his two children in the Huidekoper Grammar School, and sued the school district when he was denied.

A critical figure in the case was the judge, the honorable Pearson Church, an Allegheny alumnus who graduated in 1856. Though he was a white, privileged man, Roncolato pointed out, he ruled in favor of Allen.

The case was distinct from others of its era challenging segregation because when Church ruled in favor of Allen, he did not cite the town’s law, or the county’s law, or the state’s — he cited the rights guaranteed to all Americans in the Constitution of the United States, the first state judge to do so in the context of desegregation.

“‘Under these circumstances,’” Roncolato read from Church’s 1880 decision, “‘I cannot see why this section under consideration, involving as it does the very personification of caste, has been suffered to remain upon this statute. As a matter of fact, I believe it to be practically in dead letter throughout the commonwealth. It ought to be so in this city, and now it must be both incapable of enforcement. It’s violating the principles of the constitution of the United States.’”

Roncolato said more research needs to be done about the aftermath of the decision. What she does now, she said, is that Judge Pearson Church went on to lose his seat as a judge electorally, and Elias Allen worked countless jobs as a pillar of the community until his death in 1911.

At the end of her talk, Roncolato said Allen’s case is incredibly important to learn about at this moment in time.

On Saturday, a crowd of approximately 20 individuals gathered in Greendale Cemetery, at the place of Elias Allen’s burial, to commemorate the long-delayed installation of his tombstone. The Crawford County Historical Society coordinated the fundraising to purchase the tombstone. Roncolato presented the story of Elias Allen’s bravery again, and a wreath was laid in his honor. Following Roncolato down the hill, the community also stopped at Church’s gravesite and gave him honors and a wreath as well.

“I’ve said from the beginning of this research, this story cannot be told without these two men and the communities that supported them,” Roncolato said in her closing words at the gravestone dedication. “It cannot be told, because without the actions of Elias Allen, Judge Church wouldn’t have had anything to rule on. Without the profound, courageous work and decision of Judge Pearson Church, we wouldn’t have this story.”

Mayor Jamie Kinder, Meadville’s first woman and first black person to serve as mayor, attended the dedication and told The Campus what the ceremony meant to her.

“What it means for me, and I think what it means for Meadville and people who look like me and people who don’t, is that history can’t be forgotten, for one thing,” Kinder said. “And two, we are talking about a brave and courageous set of people willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good, right? For a cause that is good for everyone, creating communities that work for everyone. And frankly, I am standing on the shoulders of these men, hoping to continue that work with integrity and continuing to create our community in a way that works for everyone here.”