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and you have become an indelible part of the history of this school
并讓自己也成為了學校歷史中不可抹去的一部分
a history that, as you all know, stretches back
大家都知道 整個歷史可以一直
to well before the Civil War, back to 1826
追溯到南北戰爭之前 追溯到1826年
the year a child named Emperor Williams was born
這一年 一個叫作皇帝?威廉姆斯的小孩出生了
Now, Emperor was born into slavery
皇帝一出生就成為了奴隸
But as he grew up, he managed to teach himself to read and write well enough
但在成長過程中 他設法自學了讀寫
to create a pass that allowed him to
并自己寫了一張通行證
come and go around the city without getting hassled
讓他能在城里自由行走
But one day, his master saw the pass
但有一天 他的主人看到了這張通行證
and he said, where did you learn to write like that
問他 你是在哪學會寫這個的
Now, just imagine the fear Emperor must have felt when he heard that question
請大家想象一下皇帝聽到主人質問時的心理狀態
because remember, back then it was illegal for a slave to learn to read or write
要知道 當時奴隸學習讀寫是非法的
So who knows what kind of punishment he may have gotten
誰知道他會受到怎樣的懲罰
a beating, a whipping, even worse
挨打 鞭撻 甚至更糟
We don't exactly know what happened on that day
我們不知道那一天實際發生了什么
but we do know that when Emperor turned 32
但我們知道皇帝32歲時
after more than three decades in bondage, he became a free man
終于掙脫了三十余年的枷鎖 成為一個自由人
He decided to stay in New Orleans, and he went on to become a minister
他決定留在新奧爾良 并成為了一名牧師
even founded a church right here in town
甚至在城里建立了一座教堂
And in 1869, when abolitionists, missionaries
1869年 奴隸廢除主義者和傳教士
black folks and white folks came together
黑人和白人團結在一起
to create a school for freed slaves here in New Orleans
在新奧爾良為被釋放的奴隸創建了一所學校
Emperor was one of the original signers of the charter
當時 皇帝就是學校章程的最初簽署者之一
They decided to name the school New Orleans University
他們決定將學校命名為新奧爾良大學
because even though most of the classes would be taught at a high school level or below
雖然學校的大多數課程都只有高中或以下水平
oh, their aspirations were much higher than that
但他們的壯志要遠高于此
And when they laid the cornerstone for that
當他們在圣查爾斯大街
university's first building down on St. Charles Avenue
為學校的第一座建筑奠基時
Emperor got a chance to speak
皇帝終于迎來了發言機會
