'Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry', (
June 5,
1825 –
February 12,
1903) was a lawyer, soldier, U.S. Congressman, college professor and administrator, diplomat, and officer in the
Confederate States Army during the
American Civil War.
Curry was born in
Lincoln County,
Georgia, grew up in
Alabama and graduated from the
University of Georgia in 1843 where he was a member of the
Phi Kappa Literary Society. While studying at
Harvard Law School, Curry was inspired by the lectures of
Horace Mann and became an advocate of free universal education. He served in the
Mexican-American War; in the
Alabama State Legislature in 1847, 1853, and 1855; in the
United States House of Representatives in 1857–61; and in the
Confederate Congress. As a
lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army, he was a staff aide to General
Joseph E. Johnston and General
Joseph Wheeler.

Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry
After the war he studied for the ministry and became a preacher, but the focus of his work was free education in the South. He traveled and lectured in support of state normal schools, adequate rural schools, and a system of graded public schools. He was president of
Howard College, Alabama, and a professor at
Richmond College,
Virginia. From 1881 until his death he was agent for the
Peabody and
Slater Funds to aide schools in the South and was instrumental in the founding of the
Southern Education Board. The
Curry School of Education at the
University of Virginia is named after him.
Curry served as
envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Spain during
1885–
1888 and as ambassador extraordinary to Spain on the coming of age of King
Alfonso XIII in 1902. His publications include works on education, American government, and Spanish history. He was awarded the Royal Order of
Charles III and several honorary degrees. Curry died on
February 12,
1903, and is buried in
Richmond,
Virginia.
Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry is honored by one of
Alabama's two statues in the
United States Capitol's
National Statuary Hall Collection. It was donated in 1908 and sculpted by
Dante Sodini.
Works
★ ''Constitutional Government in Spain'' (1889)
★ ''
William Ewart Gladstone'' (1891)
★ ''The Southern States of the American Union'' (1894)
★ ''Difficulties, Complications, and Limitations Connected with the Education of the Negro'' (1895)
★ ''Civil History of the Government of the Confederate States, with some Personal Reminiscences'' (1901)
External links
★
Appleton's Biography edited by Stanley L. Klos
★
NSHC biography
★
''History of the University of Georgia by Thomas Walter Reed'', Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949