1. Since the University of Virginia is the news, I want to tell a pertinent story about James Joseph Sylvester, who once taught there.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
2. James Joseph Sylvester was one of the great mathematicians of 19th century & first practicing Jewish professor to teach in USA university
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Replying to @HeerJeet
3. Sylvester taught at U. of Virginia very briefly from 1841-1842, a six month term marked by anti-Semitism, violence & anti-intellectualism
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Replying to @HeerJeet
4. As soon as Sylvester was hired, local gentry was up in arms that a Jew would be teaching the gentlemen of Virginia.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
5. Sylvester was also anti-slavery, which didn't endear him to the Virginia elite either.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
6. Sylvester was appalled by the students. They had slaves carry their books, they wouldn't study, they took bad marks as personal insult.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
7. There were two brothers in particular who hated Sylvester for giving them bad marks. They challenged him to a duel.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
8. Sylvester started carrying around a sword-cane. When the brothers attacked, he mildly wounded one of them.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
9. Of course Sylvester was asked to leave immediately. He returned to England, studied law, later taught at military college.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
10. Sylvester later went on to become a tutor to Florence Nightingale, & teach at Johns Hopkins. A major figure in math.
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11. Here's the kicker -- for decades after Sylvester left U of V, the university covered up the circumstances of his leaving.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
12. Well into 20th century, official histories of U of V denied that anti-Semitism and anti-intellectualism had anything to do with case.
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