to Liberia. Two Episcopal clergymen Bishop William Meade and the Rev. William Augustus Muhlenberg supported the Society. Because of their influence, Potter became interested in the Society. In 1868, he was elected as "a life director." In 1886, when Potter was elected as vice-president, he warned the Society that would not do much, and attended no meetings until January 1892 when he was elected as president because he had "the respect of blacks and whites." At the time of his election, Potter was in England addressing the British Christian Union about the contrast between the homogeneity of an English diocese and the "racial patchwork" of his diocese. Potter accepted the office on condition that the Society would adopt "new purposes and procedures." In October 1892, Potter spelled out the changes he wanted. Rather than "getting rid of America's racial problem," the Society's goal should be based on "a positive interest in Africa's future." The Society should recruit "a few industrious, well-educated black people" to move to Liberia "renovate the Liberian social order" so that Liberia could "depend less on others." However, the Society was unable to recruit such people. Therefore, Potter set two other goals for the Society: (1) it would work for "the rejuvenation of the Afro-American character" in the United States, and (2) it would send "black missionaries" to Africa to teach and to convert to Christianity. For "the rejuvenation of the Afro-American character" in the United States, Potter supported "education and equal opportunity for the freedmen." He said that "race prejudice dies slowly and hard," but, optimistically, Potter said that he thought it was "steadily diminishing." However, in the 1890s, there was a "counter attack aimed at erasing African Americans' participation in politics and the economy" by disenfranchisement in every southern state, by Jim Crow laws segregating public facilities, and by lynching. These events made Potter less optimistic about the "decline of race prejudice." He said that "prejudice" and "race antagonism" should be "outgrown," but, "as a matter of fact," they are not. Potter's attempt to reform the Society was met with criticism from people like Wendell Phillips Garrison editor of The Nation, and his fund-raising efforts failed. On February 7, 1894, Potter spoke at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, but he aroused "more opposition than support." After Potter's speech, several "black leaders" stood to "denounce the society and Liberia." Later, a group of "black