Women such as Angela Davis; law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw; academics Patricia Hill Collins, Beverly Guy Sheftall, and Bell Hooks; and historians Darlene Clark Hine, Paula Giddings, and Deborah Gray White have greatly expanded the context in which black women and their history and activism are discussed by underscoring black women’s issues related to race, gender, and class. Augusta Savage displayed an artistic aptitude from her youngest days. Alford, who began her career as a teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y., oversees the Early Childhood Conference and helps to create development opportunities for elementary school teachers. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are commonly credited as the primary training grounds for African-American talent in higher education. Its detractors, however, felt that industrial education was intentionally designed to prevent blacks from attaining economic and educational parity with whites. Perkins reveals the painful experiences of young Black women who persevered despite their ostracism and marginalization within these elite institutions. Although she is a not well-known figure, Mary Jane Patterson was a pioneer in black education and paved the way for other black female educators. Her best-known work, "The Harp," was featured at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, but it was destroyed after the fair ended. Black History Walks - Guided walking, bus and river tours of London's 2000 years of Black history The Black Curriculum - UK initiative that teaches Black history all year round in schools Today African Americans are enrolling in higher education in record numbers. Why black boys? Byrd-Bennett will have to use her extensive experience as an educator in New York City and Cleveland to bring together parents, the teachers union and city officials as the district moves past the recent teachers' strike and addresses school closures and other issues affecting Chicago students. United States: Otelia Cromwell became the first black woman to graduate from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. During her tenure, she helped expand the faculty and instituted admissions policies that accepted qualified students regardless of financial need. Japan: The first Women's University. Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator and civil rights leader best known for her work co-founding the Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. In addition to delivering the poem "Praise Song for the Day" at President Obama's first inauguration in 2009, Alexander is a professor of American studies and English as well as the chair of the department of African-American studies at Yale. Dorothy Height has been described as the godmother of the women's movement because of her work for gender equality. In the face of gender and racial bias, Black women have broken barriers, challenged the status quo, and fought for equal rights for all. Flo Kennedy was a lawyer and civil rights advocate who worked to improve conditions for American women generally, and especially black women. For Women's History Month, we chose to take a look at the contributions of black women to the educational cause. A Forgotten Sisterhood: Pioneering Black Women Educators and Activists in the Jim Crow South - Kindle edition by McCluskey, Audrey Thomas. Like The Root on Facebook. Click through to learn more about them. 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