Anne Cannon Forsyth

Anne Cannon Forsyth was an educational activist who created the Anne C. Stouffer Foundation in 1967, which was the first foundation to offer full scholarships for young African-American students to attend elite southern preparatory boarding schools. She also served as founder and president of the North Carolina Fund. The Anne Cannon Trust awarded $100,000 to Appalachian State University to provide educational scholarships to underrepresented populations.[1][2][3][4]

Anne Cannon Forsyth
BornAugust 23rd, 1930
New York City, New York
DiedMay 11th, 2003
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
OccupationEducational activist
Parent(s)Zachary Smith Reynolds

Educational Activism

Born into a wealthy family in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Forsyth felt the need to help under-represented people. Specifically, Forsyth was concerned with the problems of poverty and racism. She began her work helping this cause by creating the Anne C. Stouffer Foundation in 1967, which aimed to "promote the integration of southern preparatory schools".[1] Shortly after, John Ehle took over management of the program;[5] Ehle and his wife, the actress Rosemary Harris, can be heard interviewing prospective Black candidates on surviving recordings.[6] The Anne C. Stouffer Foundation largely helped integrate the Virginia Episcopal School in 1967, Bill Alexander and Marvin Barnard were among the first two to attend.[7] Forsyth rationalized starting the program because of the benefits she believed both black and white students would acquire.[8] The foundation over the course of its operation from 1967 to 1975 enabled 142 students, mainly African Americans, to attend prep schools throughout the southern United States.

Family
Z. Smith Reynolds in early 1930s

Anne Cannon Forsyth was the daughter of Zachary Smith Reynolds and Anne Cannon Stouffer.[9] Forysth had a tumultuous childhood after the divorce of her parents and the early death of her father.[4]

Forsyth was adopted by her grandparents, Joseph (1876–1939) and Annie (1887–1965) Cannon. They lived in the Cannon's Blowing Rock, North Carolina estate named "Miramichi," meaning "happy retreat." As an heiress to both the R.J. Reynolds tobacco and Cannon textile fortunes, she was once dubbed "the richest baby in the world."[10] Following the sensational Lindbergh kidnapping in 1932, the Cannons received a death threat saying "You're next," in reference to the little Anne. They hired full time Pinkerton agents who watched the child at all times, and iron bars were installed on the "Miramichi" windows.[11]

Forsyth has two sons, Zachary Tate and Jock Tate, both involved in the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.[4]

Legacy

In August 2006, the Anne Cannon Trust was founded in Forsyth's honor, which funded 20 scholarships for students of under-represented groups to attend Appalachian State University. Forsyth also founded the Awards Committee for Education (ACE), which funded scholarships for high achieving Native American and African American high school students from Appalachia for summer programs.[3]

References
  1. "Anne Cannon Forsyth - NC Heritage". NC Heritage. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  2. Archer, Coy. "Making a Splash". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  3. "Anne Cannon Scholars Program established at Appalachian » News Archive » Appalachian State University News". www.news.appstate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  4. Wilson, Emily. "For the Common Good" (PDF). Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Annual Report.
  5. Secret, Mosi (September 7, 2017). "The Way to Survive It Was to Make A's". The New York Times Magazine. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  6. Glass, Ira; Secret, Mosi (September 8, 2017). "Essay B". This American Life. WBEZ. Retrieved 24 January 2021. A transcript is also available.
  7. Smith, Alissa. "50 years later, VES reflects on school's integration". NewsAdvance.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  8. "Paper: Dual Benefits?: Black Students, White Philanthropy, and the Desegregation of Private Southern Prep Schools (127th Annual Meeting (January 3-6, 2013))". aha.confex.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  9. "Anne C. Stouffer Foundation Records, 1960s-1990s". finding-aids.lib.unc.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  10. "Obituary Ann Cannon Reynolds Tate Forsyth".
  11. Kramer, Linda. "An Authentic Home Restoration | The Cannon Estate in Blowing Rock, NC". Mountain Construction. High Country Magazine.
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