Cracked BuckeyeCracked Buckeye

Notable people · Civil Rights · Suffrage · Educator

Mary Church Terrell

Born in Memphis, Terrell moved to Oberlin in 1875, graduated from Oberlin College (B.A. 1884, M.A. 1888), taught at Wilberforce University 1885-87, and served as first national president of the National Association of Colored Women (1896-1901). She died in Annapolis, Maryland.

Mary Church Terrell
Scurlock, Addison N., 1883-1964, photographer, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
1863-09-23
Died
1954-07-24
Education
Antioch College Model School, Yellow Springs, OH, from 1871
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, to 1888, B.A. 1884; M.A. 1888
Known as
Civil Rights, Suffrage, Educator
Organizations
National Association of Colored Women, Oberlin College

Life story

Mary Church was born in Memphis in 1863, daughter of Robert Reed Church, one of the first Black millionaires in the South. When her parents divorced she lived with her mother in New York. At eight she was sent to the Antioch College model school in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

In 1875 she moved to Oberlin, graduated from high school at fifteen, and earned a bachelor's degree (1884) and master's (1888) at Oberlin. In 1885 she taught languages at Wilberforce University.

After studying in Europe, she married Robert Terrell in 1891, which ended her teaching at Washington's M Street School. In 1895 she became the first Black woman on the D.C. school board, and in 1896 she founded the National Association of Colored Women.

She helped found the NAACP in 1909 and campaigned for women's suffrage and against segregation. In 1950, in her late eighties, she led a drive to integrate Washington restaurants. She died in 1954.

Timeline

  • 1871: Sent to Antioch College Model School (Yellow Springs, OH) source
  • 1875: Moves to Oberlin (Oberlin, OH) source
  • 1884: B.A., Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH) source
  • 1885: Teaches at Wilberforce University (Wilberforce, OH) source
  • 1888: M.A., Oberlin; leaves for Europe (Oberlin, OH) source
  • 1891: Marries Robert Heberton Terrell (Memphis, TN) source
  • 1895: First woman on D.C. school board (Washington, D.C.) source
  • 1896: Founds National Association of Colored Women (Washington, D.C.) source
  • 1909: Charter member of NAACP (New York, NY) source
  • 1950: Campaign to integrate D.C. restaurants (Washington, D.C.) source
  • 1954-07-24: Dies (Highland Beach, MD) source

What Mary is known for

  • Oberlin B.A. 1884, M.A. 1888
  • First national president of the NACW 1896-1901
  • 'Lynching from a Negro's Point of View' (1904)
  • A Colored Woman in a White World (1940)

Honors and things named for them

  • Home a National Historic Landmark (1975)
  • 2009 USPS stamp
  • Oberlin College library named for her (2018)
  • National Women's Hall of Fame (2020)
  • Honorary doctorate, Oberlin (1948)

Family

  • father: Robert Reed Church
  • mother: Louisa Ayres
  • husband: Robert Heberton Terrell
  • daughter: Phyllis Terrell

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where Mary Church Terrell was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com