As a Maine newspaper editor for 11 years, I had the pleasure of attending four Lovejoy convocations at Colby.  Each time, Lovejoy was remembered for his courage and First Amendment perseverance.

But who was Elijah Parish Lovejoy?

Well, he was the abolitionist publisher of the Alton (Illinois) Observer.  He was killed in 1837 by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, just outside St. Louis.

Outspoken in his views about the horror of slavery, Lovejoy advocated abolition at a time when that view, particularly in border states was not popular with everyone.  In a matter of months, pro-slavery mobs destroyed his printing press three times, attempting to silence the Observer.  Friends advised Lovejoy to back off, fearing he might lose his life.

But he didn’t.  The mobs returned when learning that Lovejoy was up and printing in a new warehouse.  This time, they burned and destroyed his press again, but also killed Lovejoy, shooting him five times with a shotgun.

Yes, he was silenced, but his memory lives on 170 years later at a small college in northern Maine – and within me.