Alexander Lucius Twilight was an American educator, minister and politician. He was recognized as the first African American to have earned a bachelor's degree from an American college or university, graduating from Middlebury College in 1823. He was ordained as a Congregational minister and worked in education and ministry all his career. In 1829 Twilight became principal of the Orleans County Grammar School. There he designed and built Athenian Hall, the first granite public building in the state of Vermont. In 1836 he was the first African American elected as a state legislator, serving in the Vermont House of Representatives; he was also the only African American ever elected to a state legislature before the Civil War.
Alexander Twilight
Athenian Hall, now better known as The Old Stone House
Alexander Twilight Hall at Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont.
Gamaliel Painter (1742–1819), founder of Middlebury College
Old Chapel with the Green Mountains in the distance
Starr Library, Middlebury's original library, circa 1900
The Davis Family Library, opened in 2004