Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck

In 1665, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University.

Cheeshahteaumuck, of the Wampanoag tribe, came from Martha's Vineyard and attended a preparatory school in Roxbury. At Harvard, he lived and studied in the Indian College, Harvard's first brick building, with a fellow Wampanoag, Joel Iacoomes.

Cheeshahteaumuck died of tuberculosis in Watertown, Massachusetts less than a year after graduation.^[1][2][3]

Apart from Cheeshahteaumuck and Iacoomes, at least two other Native American students attended the Indian College at this time. Eleazar died before graduating and John Wampus left to become a mariner. Iacoomes was lost in a shipwreck a few months prior to graduation, while returning to Harvard from Martha's Vineyard. Cheeshahteaumuck is believed to have been the only Native American to have graduated from the Indian College during its years of operation. These first students studied in an educational system that emphasized Greek, Latin, and religious instruction.^[1][3][4]

On December 16, 2010, a portrait of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, commissioned by the Harvard Foundation, was unveiled in the University's famous Annenberg Hall. A part of the Harvard Foundation Portraiture Project diversity initiative, it was painted by the alumnus Stephen E. Coit. He conducted careful historical research and consulted with members of the Wampanoag. Rev. Peter J. Gomes chaired the project and attended with Harvard President Drew Faust and members of the Harvard Native American Program to commemorate the day.^[5]

Representation in other media

In 2011, the novel Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks included a version of Cheeshahteaumuck's time at Harvard.^[6]

References