James Storum
*On this date in 1847, James Storum was born. He was a Black educator and Professor.
From Buffalo, New York, his mother, Mary Canady, was from Sussex County, and his grandfather, Charles Storum, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Storum's mother was a woman who was profoundly religious and full of energy and enterprise.
James Storum embraced religion at age thirteen and united with the Michigan Street Baptist Church. He graduated from Oberlin College, Ohio, He later went to Washington D.C. and taught at Wayland Seminary, one of the schools fostered by the Baptist Home Mission Society. He taught there for thirteen years. In 1872, he married Carrie Garnett Browne.
Storum was the first principal of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (Virginia State University) 1883-1885. As a professor, Storum was interested in improving and elevating "Colored" people. Professor Storum, throughout his career, wrote and lectured on various subjects, such as religion, politics, education, and finance. From The American Negro, History and Literature. His death is unknown.
