Brown's first African-American alumnus, Inman Page (class of 1877) led a remarkable career as an educator, following his escape from slavery and his years at Brown. Near the end of his life, in the 1930s, he profoundly influenced a teenage boy who grew up to become the great novelist Ralph Ellison. In 1979, Ellison came to Brown to talk about his mentor and the lasting impact of Brown on all of the students who fell under Page's influence (literally, in Ellison's case).

Join Ted Widmer, Assistant to the President for Special Projects, and Tricia Rose, Director for the Center of the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America for a conversation about Brown's earliest African-American students and their legacy.