Edna Meade Colson
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Edna Meade Colson (October 7, 1888 – January 17, 1985) was an American educator, known for her contributions to improving access to education to Virginian African Americans.


Biography

Edna Meade Colson was born on October 7, 1888, in
Petersburg Petersburg, or Petersburgh, may refer to: Places Australia *Petersburg, former name of Peterborough, South Australia Canada * Petersburg, Ontario Russia *Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as Petersburg United States *Peterborg, U.S. Virg ...
, Virginia. She was the oldest of five children of prominent educators, James Major Colson and Kate Deaver Hill Colson. She received her B.A. from
Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...
in 1915 and received a Ph.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1940. After overcoming her own obstacles to higher education, she became a champion of making graduate education available to African Americans. In
1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...
Colson chaired the committee to implement the program offering graduate courses to African Americans at Virginia State University. Colson was also politically active beyond education. She was among the first women to register to vote after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and she was the first African-American woman to become a lifetime member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Colson lived with her partner Amaza Lee Meredith. They occupied the house in Chesterfield County, Virginia, named " Azurest South", which was designed by Meredith. Colson retired from Virginia State University (then Virginia State College) in 1953. She died at the age of 96 in a Colonial Heights nursing home on January 17, 1985, and was buried at Eastview Cemetery, Petersburg City, Virginia.


References


Further reading

*Fairclough, Adam. ''A Class of Their Own: Black Teachers in the Segregated South.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Colson, Edna Meade African-American educators Virginia State University faculty 1985 deaths 1888 births People from Petersburg, Virginia Educators from Virginia LGBT people from Virginia LGBT African Americans American women academics 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women