E’ry day this month, Philly’s 7th Ward, in partnership with the Center for Black Educator Development, will highlight a “Black Educator Hall of Famer.“ But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month. February is just the Blackest. Every day is an ongoing opportunity to learn and teach the colossal impact Black educators have had on society.
Hallie Quinn Brown
Hallie Quinn Brown was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on March 10, 1850. The family relocated to Canada but returned to Ohio in 1870. After moving to Ohio, Brown attended Wilberforce University, where her mother was a guidance counselor. Brown graduated in 1873 with a Bachelor of Science, making her one of the first Black women to graduate from college in the United States.
After graduation, Brown began teaching on the Senora Plantation in Mississippi and later taught on several plantations, focusing on improving the literacy levels of Black children who had been denied the opportunity during slavery. Years later, Brown moved to South Carolina and taught at Columbia City Schools. By September 1875, she joined the faculty at Allen University. Brown taught at Allen between 1875 and 1885 and then, for the next two years (1885-1887), served as dean of the University.
From 1887 to 1891, she taught night school for African Americans in Dayton, Ohio, and in 1892 was appointed principal (Dean of Women) of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she worked with Booker T. Washington. Returning to Ohio, Brown taught in the Dayton Public Schools for four years and established an adult class for migrant workers.
Brown was dedicated to activism on behalf of Black people and women. By the time she began working at Allen University, Brown was already developing a reputation as a powerful orator for the causes of temperance, women’s suffrage, and civil rights. Brown’s skill as an elocutionist moved audiences in ways that few other noted orators, past and present, could. It was said that “…she possesses a voice of “wonderful magnetism and great compass.”
During her time as an orator, Brown spoke before Queen Victoria (Alexandria 1819-1901 Queen of Great Britain 1837-1901), the 1895 Convention of the World’s Women’s Christian Temperance Union in London, and the 1899 International Congress of Women, as a representative of the United States. In addition to being a speaker, Brown was an author. The books to her credit include Bits and Odds: A Choice Selection of Recitations, Elocution and Physical Culture, First Lessons in Public Speaking, and Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction.
Brown exemplified the power of education in action. She used her teaching, speaking, and writing skills to advocate for Black people, Black women, and all in need of justice and civil rights. Brown passed away in 1949 in Wilberforce, OH.
Happy Black History Month and make sure to read up on Hallie Quinn Brown.
