and you have become an indelible part of the history of this school
并让自己也成为了学校历史中不可抹去的一部分
a history that, as you all know, stretches back
大家都知道 整个历史可以一直
to well before the Civil War, back to 1826
追溯到南北战争之前 追溯到1826年
the year a child named Emperor Williams was born
这一年 一个叫作皇帝?威廉姆斯的小孩出生了
Now, Emperor was born into slavery
皇帝一出生就成为了奴隶
But as he grew up, he managed to teach himself to read and write well enough
但在成长过程中 他设法自学了读写
to create a pass that allowed him to
并自己写了一张通行证
come and go around the city without getting hassled
让他能在城里自由行走
But one day, his master saw the pass
但有一天 他的主人看到了这张通行证
and he said, where did you learn to write like that
问他 你是在哪学会写这个的
Now, just imagine the fear Emperor must have felt when he heard that question
请大家想象一下皇帝听到主人质问时的心理状态
because remember, back then it was illegal for a slave to learn to read or write
要知道 当时奴隶学习读写是非法的
So who knows what kind of punishment he may have gotten
谁知道他会受到怎样的惩罚
a beating, a whipping, even worse
挨打 鞭挞 甚至更糟
We don't exactly know what happened on that day
我们不知道那一天实际发生了什么
but we do know that when Emperor turned 32
但我们知道皇帝32岁时
after more than three decades in bondage, he became a free man
终于挣脱了三十余年的枷锁 成为一个自由人
He decided to stay in New Orleans, and he went on to become a minister
他决定留在新奥尔良 并成为了一名牧师
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 奴隶废除主义者和传教士
black folks and white folks came together
黑人和白人团结在一起
to create a school for freed slaves here in New Orleans
在新奥尔良为被释放的奴隶创建了一所学校
Emperor was one of the original signers of the charter
当时 皇帝就是学校章程的最初签署者之一
They decided to name the school New Orleans University
他们决定将学校命名为新奥尔良大学
because even though most of the classes would be taught at a high school level or below
虽然学校的大多数课程都只有高中或以下水平
oh, their aspirations were much higher than that
但他们的壮志要远高于此
And when they laid the cornerstone for that
当他们在圣查尔斯大街
university's first building down on St. Charles Avenue
为学校的第一座建筑奠基时
Emperor got a chance to speak
皇帝终于迎来了发言机会
