Anna Julia Cooper

Born into slavery in 1858 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Anna Julia Cooper overcame immense barriers to become a leading intellectual of her era. She earned a PhD from the Sorbonne in 1924, writing a dissertation on the French Revolution. Her most famous work, A Voice from the South (1892), is a collection of essays that argues for the centrality of Black women's education and perspectives to the progress of the race and the nation. Cooper was a prominent educator, serving as principal of the M Street School in Washington, D.C., where she advocated for rigorous classical education for Black students. Her literary legacy lies in her incisive critique of racism, sexism, and classism, and her insistence on the intellectual and moral authority of Black women. She remains a foundational figure in African American literature and feminist theory.