Cooper, Anna J. (Anna Julia), 1858-1964

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Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (August 10, 1858 – February 27, 1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Black Liberation activist, and one of the most prominent African-American scholars in United States history.

Born into slavery in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1858, Cooper followed the path of many African Americans as she grasped hold of opportunities for an education through the Freedmen’s Bureau after emancipation. Cooper worked her way through St. Augustine’s Normal School, a school that had been started in 1867 to help educate formerly enslaved African Americans. During her time at St. Augustine’s, Cooper’s mother, Hannah Stanley, helped support her.

Anna Haywood married George A.G. Cooper, a teacher of theology at Saint Augustine’s, in 1877. When her husband died in 1879, Cooper decided to pursue a college degree. She attended Oberlin College in Ohio on a tuition scholarship, earning a BA in 1884 and a Masters in Mathematics in 1887. After graduation Cooper worked at Wilberforce University and Saint Augustine’s before moving to Washington, D.C. to teach at Washington Colored High School. She met another teacher, Mary Church (Terrell), who, along with Cooper, boarded at the home of Alexander Crummell, a prominent clergyman, intellectual, and proponent of African American emigration to Liberia.

Cooper published her first book, A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South, in 1892. In addition to calling for equal education for women, A Voice from the South advanced Cooper’s assertion that educated African American women were necessary for uplifting the entire black race. The book of essays gained national attention, and Cooper began lecturing across the country on topics such as education, civil rights, and the status of black women. In 1902, Cooper began a controversial stint as principal of M Street High School (formerly Washington Colored High). The white Washington, D.C. school board disagreed with her educational approach for black students, which focused on college preparation, and she resigned in 1906.

In addition to working to advance African American educational opportunities, Cooper also established and co-founded several organizations to promote black civil rights causes. She helped found the Colored Women’s League in 1892, and she joined the executive committee of the first Pan-African Conference in 1900. Since the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) did not accept African American members, she created “colored” branches to provide support for young black migrants moving from the South into Washington, D.C.

Cooper resumed graduate study in 1914 at Columbia University in New York City, New York. After the death of her brother in 1915, however, she postponed pursuing her doctorate in order to raise his five grandchildren. She returned to school in 1924 when she enrolled at the University of Paris in France. In 1925, at the age of 67, Cooper became the fourth African American woman to obtain a Doctorate of Philosophy.

In 1930, Cooper retired from teaching to assume the presidency of Frelinghuysen University, a school for black adults. She served as the school’s registrar after it was reorganized into the Frelinghuysen Group of Schools for Colored People. Cooper remained in that position until the school closed in the 1950s.

Cooper died in 1964 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 105.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Records of the Work Projects Administration, 1922 - 1944. Subject Files, 1935 - 1938 National Archives Library, National Archives Records Administration
creatorOf Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August), 1849-1914. Branson-Jackson Family Papers, 1794-1962. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
referencedIn Records of the Office of Speechwriting (Clinton Administration), 1993 - 2001. Michael Waldman's Files, 1995 - 2000 William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
creatorOf Cooper, Anna J. (Anna Julia), 1858-1964. Anna J. Cooper papers, 1881-1958. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University
referencedIn Gabel, Leona C. (Leona Christine), 1895-1980. Leona C. Gabel papers, 1915-1982. Smith College, Neilson Library
referencedIn Records of the White House Office of Records Management (Clinton Administration), 1993 - 2001. Subject Files on Human Rights, 1993 - 2001 William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
referencedIn Hundley, Mary Gibson, 1897-1986. Papers, 1910-1985 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Anna J. Cooper Papers, 1881-1958 Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University
referencedIn Papers of Mary Gibson Hundley, 1910-1985 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Cooper, Anna J. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
referencedIn Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006. National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017 National Archives Library, National Archives Records Administration
creatorOf Black Women at Oberlin College Survey Project. Black Women at Oberlin College Survey Project collection, 1982-2001. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Root, Azariah Smith, 1862-1927. Papers, 1881-1930. Oberlin College Library
Relation Name
associatedWith Black Women at Oberlin College Survey Project. corporateBody
almaMaterOf Columbia University corporateBody
relativeOf Fabius Julius Haywood person
employeeOf Frelinghuysen University (Washington, D.C.) corporateBody
associatedWith Gabel, Leona C. (Leona Christine), 1895-1980. person
associatedWith Grimké family. family
nieceOrNephewOf Haywood, E. Burke (Edmund Burke), 1825-1894 person
relativeOf Haywood, George Washington, 1802-1890. person
grandchildOf Haywood, John, 1755-1827 person
associatedWith Hundley, Mary Gibson, 1897-1986. person
associatedWith Jelavich, Charles. person
correspondedWith Klein, Félix, 1862-1953 person
associatedWith MARY (GIBSON) HUNDLEY, 1897-1986 person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Oberlin College corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Paris. Université (Sorbonne) corporateBody
associatedWith Root, Azariah Smith, 1862-1927. person
employeeOf Wilberforce University corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Raleigh NC US
New York City NY US
District of Columbia DC US
Wilberforce OH US
Paris A8 FR
Subject
Education
African American universities and colleges
African Americans
Law schools
Occupation
Activist
African American college presidents
African American women college administrators
Authors
Educators
Historians
Scholars
Sociologists
Activity

Person

Birth 1858-08-10

Death 1964-02-27

Female

Americans

French,

English

Information

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