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Black Women Trained as Teachers
Myrtilla Miner opens the first school to train black women as teachers, in Washington, D.C. Interpretation: This opens the door for African Americans to obtain employment in more highly educated fields on a large scale. -
Morrill Act
Congress passes the Morrill Act, establishing land grant colleges in rural areas. Millions of women will earn low-cost degrees at these schools. In North Carolina, this act results in the founding of North Carolina State University. Interpretation: Again increases the opportunities women had in education fields. -
First Black Woman to obtain an Arts Degree
Mary Jane Patterson, a free black from Raleigh, becomes the first African American woman to receive a bachelor of arts degree. She obtains the degree from Oberlin College in Ohio. Interpretation: Shows progress towards an American where African Americans had the right to Equal Education. -
Migration of Teachers to the South
Hundreds of white women move to the South to teach at freedman schools. -
First Black Woman Admitted to the U.S. Bar
Charlotte E. Ray, Howard University law school graduate, becomes the first African American woman admitted to the U.S. bar. Interpretation: Shows progress towards an American where African Americans had the right to Equal Education. -
State Colored Normal School
The North Carolina General Assembly establishes the State Colored Normal School as the first African American teacher-training school in the South. The Howard School, which opens in 1867 in Fayetteville, is chosen for the site. Eventually, the school becomes Fayetteville State University. Interpretation: Increases opportunities for women in education, this time for African American Women. -
First Black Woman to Obtain a Ph.D.
Anna Julia Heywood Cooper becomes the fourth African American woman to earn a Ph.D.; hers is earned from the Sorbonne University in France. Retiring as principal of the M Street (Dunbar) School in Washington, D.C., she focuses on the Washington Negro Folklore Society which she helps found and continues to work for the black feminist movement. Interpretation: Shows progress towards an American where African Americans had the right to Equal Education. -
Title IX
Title IX goes into effect. It opens the way for women's increased participation in athletic programs and professional schools, and enrollments leap in both categories. Title IX will withstand repeated court challenges over time. Interpretation: Push for equality in a coed education system. -
Post Timeline Question 1
~Why do you think African American men gained the right to vote decades before women did?
African American men likely gained the Right to vote before women in the United States because at the time that the 15th Amendment was passed women were still seen as "Housekeepers" and were, most of the time, less educated than men. -
Post Timeline Question 2
~How do you think the Nineteenth Amendment affected minority women?
The 19th amendment, because it gave the opportunity to vote to all citizens of the United States, made women, particularly minorities, more likely to be able to hold office and advance their own agendas by voting for people who supported pro-women's rights causes and in some cases being elected themselves. -
Post Question Question 3
~Consider the map of women's voting rights before 1920. Why do you think so many western states permitted women to vote before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment?
Many women in the western United States were granted the Right to vote because of their important position in the finances of households in the Western United States. The need for women to hold "Normal Jobs" on the frontier likely influenced their ability to vote. The "newness" of the western communities likely also contributed.