Many new generation Ghanaians may have heard the name Dr James Kwegyir Aggrey and his impact in Ghana and beyond, but few have seen what he actually looked like in his youthful age.

A rare photo of Dr Aggrey, the Gold Coast academician, priest, and first Vice Principal of Achimota School (then known as the Prince of Wales College and School), has resurfaced on social media.

Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir Aggrey

The vintage image, likely from the mid-20th century, shows Dr Aggrey in full formal attire during his tenure as Vice Principal, standing alongside the school’s matron and some students.

They were captured posing outdoors, in front of a simple, light-colored building with louvered shutters and an open doorway.

The photo also identifies everyone pictured, including six young male students, James Kwansa, Kwami Hagan, Attakorah Mensah, Agyaman Prempeh, Charlie Acquah, and Kofi Ashante, as well as, the Matron.

The children were dressed in similar outfits of light-colored short-sleeved shirts and shorts, with most of them barefoot.

Dr James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey was born on October 18, 1875, and passed away on July 30, 1927.

He was an intellectual, missionary, and teacher.

He was born in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and later emigrated to the United States, but returned.

He was born in Chorkor to Kodwo Kwegyir, a friend of the then master chieftain Amonu IV.

In June 1883, he was baptised in a municipality in the Gold Coast, where he was given the Christian name James.

He attended Wesley Boys Senior High School, now Mfantsipim School, in Cape Coast.

He later became the school's headmaster and was the first Vice Principal of Achimota College.

In 1898, at the age of 23, he was selected due to his education to be trained in the United States as a missionary.

On July 10, 1898, Aggrey agreed and left the Gold Coast for the United States, where he settled in Salisbury, North Carolina, and attended Livingstone College.

He studied a variety of subjects at the university, including chemistry, physics, logic, economics and politics.

In May 1902, he graduated from the university with three academic degrees.

Aggrey was very talented in languages and was said to have spoken (besides English) French, German, Ancient and Modern Greek, and Latin.

Senegal honours Ghana's James Kwegyir Aggrey

In November 1903, he was appointed a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Salisbury.

In 1905, he married Rose Douglas, a native of Virginia, with whom he had four children.

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