Blue plaque for Strabane industrialist, polemicist and philanthropist

An Ulster History Circle plaque, in memory of Ezekiel J. Donnell will be unveiled in Strabane, County Tyrone.

The ceremony will be held on Friday 3 February 2012 at 12 noon at Strabane Library, Railway Street.

Ezekiel J. Donnell was born in the townland of Ballee, near Strabane in 1822 and arrived in America when he was eighteen years old, following the example of several of his brothers who had earlier made the same journey.

Donnell settled in Montgomery, Alabama, becoming a successful merchant before moving to New York in 1854 where he established himself as one of the foremost cotton merchants in the United States. In 1872 he published a Chronological and Statistical History of Cotton and became an acknowledged authority on the industry. Donnell believed strongly in individual freedom in trade as elsewhere in life. He was an advocate of a strong public education system that would enable individuals to contribute more effectively to the general good.

Donnell was a prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce, a founder of the Reform Club and an active participant in the Democratic Club and a number of his public addresses were published in pamphlet form.

In pursuit of his view of education as the vehicle for economic change he donated one million dollars towards building a library where young people could achieve the self-improvement that he saw as essential for the development of economy and society. This bequest was publicly if rather belatedly recognised in the opening of the Donnell Library Centre in the New York Public Library in December 1955.

Donnell died in 1896.

The plaque is supported by Strabane District Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Libraries NI.

Chris Spurr, Chairman of the Ulster History Circle said, “This latest in a series of Ulster History Circle blue plaques in Strabane shows once again that this district of Tyrone has a clear commitment to celebrate its historical personalities and keep their memories alive. Such a person is Ezekiel Donnell, an enterprising and inspiring son of Strabane.”