Anna Julia Cooper: Author, Educator, 4th African-American Women to Earn PhD

Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by Leshell Hatley in History, Mathematics, Scholarly Celebrations

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (August 10, 1858 – February 27, 1964) was an author, educator, and one of the most prominent African American scholars in United States history. Upon receiving her Ph.D in history from the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1924, Cooper became the fourth African American woman to earn a doctorate degree. She was also a prominent member of Washington, D.C.’s African American community.

Life and Education

Born into slavery on August 10, 1858, Anna Julia Cooper was the daughter of a slave owner and slave, who nonetheless inspired Cooper to excel as a scholar, educator, writer and activist. At the age of ten, Cooper was awarded a scholarship to attend St. Augustine’s Normal School and Collegiate Institute for the Colored. She not only successfully argued for admittance into courses that were typically offered only to male students, Cooper went on to teach at the school as well. In 1881, having taken college preparatory classes at St. Augustine’s, Cooper was again awarded a scholarship, this time to Oberlin College in Ohio, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics.

In 1914, Cooper began courses for her doctoral degree at Columbia University, but was forced to interrupt her studies in 1915 when she adopted the five children of her late half-brother upon their mother’s passing. Later on she was able to transfer her credits to the University of Paris-Sorbonne, and over the course of a decade was able to research and compose her dissertation, completing her coursework in 1924. Cooper defended her thesis The Attitude of France on the Question of Slavery Between 1789 and 1848 in 1925. At the age of sixty-five, Cooper became the fourth black woman in American history to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy degree.

Cooper received her diploma from the University of Paris in 1924 when she was sixty-six years old.

Years later, fellow instructor and theology student, George A.C. Cooper, became her husband. They were married for nearly two years when the George Cooper died suddenly. Anna Cooper never remarried.

Career

She returned in 1885 to St. Augustine’s to teach math, Latin and German. In 1887, Cooper taught at M Street High School in Washington, D.C., the only school in the city at that time for black students. During her tenure as principal, she designed a rigorous curriculum to help her students compete successfully with white students.

Because of her high teaching standards, Cooper was harshly reprimanded by the school board and was eventually demoted. Once a new school board was elected, however, Cooper was invited back to M Street High School where she remained until the 1930s.

Author

During her years as teacher and principal at M Street High School, Cooper completed her first book, A Voice from the South: By A Woman from the South, published in 1892. Perhaps her most well-known volume of writing, A Voice from the South is widely viewed as one of the first articulations of Black feminism. The book advanced a vision of self-determination through education and social uplift for African American women. Its central thesis was that the educational, moral, and spiritual progress of black women would improve the general standing of the entire African American community. Cooper advanced the view that it was the duty of educated and successful black women to support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals. The essays in A Voice from the South also touched on a variety of topics, from racism and the socioeconomic realities of black families to the administration of the Episcopal Church.

Activist

Because Cooper strongly believed that women, particularly black women, deserved access to higher education, she spoke freely on their behalf. As an activist, she advocated for social change through her writings, all the while serving as a foster mother to seven children, teaching high school full-time, and working in a leadership role for social justice. In 1892, a collection of her essays, letters, and speeches were was published as A Voice From The South And Other Important Essays, Papers, and Letters. Copper was 106 years old when she died in 1964. She was buried alongside her husband in Raleigh, North Carolina.

On February 27, 1964, Cooper died in Washington, D.C. at the age of 105. Her memorial was held in a chapel on the campus of Saint Augustine’s College, where her academic career began. She was buried alongside her husband at the City Cemetery in Raleigh.

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2. James McCune Smith: First African-American to earn a Medical Degree and run a Pharmacy in the US
3. David Harold Blackwell: 1st African-American in the National Academy of Sciences
4. Georgiana Simpson: One of the 1st African-American Women to Obtain a PhD in America
5. Sadie T. M. Alexander: One of the 1st African-American Women to Obtain a PhD in the US

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