Frazelia Campbell (March 18, 1849 – October 5, 1930) was an American classicist,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and teacher. She was featured in the "12 Black Classicists" travelling exhibition celebrating the achievements of African Americans working in Classical education.

Early life

Frazelia Campbell was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

on 18 March 1849 to Frederick and Julia Swartz Campbell.

Education

Campbell studied at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Institute for Colored Youth The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It became the first high school for African-Americans in the United States, although there were schools that admitted African Americans preceding it ...

(ICY), graduating in 1867.Watterson, Katrina. "The attitudes of African American students towards the study of foreign languages and cultures." (2011).http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1392&context=gradschool_dissertations The ICY was founded in 1839 by a Society of Friends which based its teaching on the classical curriculum. Michele Valerie Ronnick: https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/all-scholars/8590-campbell-frazelia She was probably taught by

Fanny Jackson Coppin Fanny Jackson Coppin (October 15, 1837 – January 21, 1913) was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education. One of the first Black alumnae of Oberlin College, she served as principal of the Institute for C ...

, a graduate of Oberlin College and a campaigner for women's education who taught Greek, Latin, and Mathematics at the institute from 1865 and served as its Principal from 1869 to 1902. Campbell gave a paper titled "The Worth of Books" on the school's 1865 commencement program, and another in 1866 called "Sic Itur ad Astra." Two years later, in 1868, she presented her essay "Virgil and Grey" at the school's winter commencement. Her education did not end there as she further completed a summer school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1908. Michele Valerie Ronnick: https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/all-scholars/8590-campbell-frazelia

Career

After graduation, Campbell began working at the Institute for Colored Youth, teaching

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. In 1876, she became the head of the women's department of the Institute. In 1876, she became the principal of the Girls' High School at the Institute. When the Institute discontinued its academic work in 1902, Campbell moved to a teaching post at

Allen University Allen University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The cam ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

, a university founded to support the education of African American people. During her time at the Institute for Colored Youth and at Allen University, she published articles on a range of classical and educational topics in the African Methodist Episcopal Church Review. Campbell taught Latin, German and Spanish at Allen University until at least 1912; at some point after this she returned to Philadelphia.

Death

Campbell remained in

where she died in her home, 621 N. Fifty-Seven St. on 5 October 1930. She died at the age of 81 and is buried in a family plot in the Eden Cemetery. This is a burial ground chartered for and by blacks in 1902 in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Notable Works

One of her essays which concerned

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

' conception of Germanic women called 'Tacitus' German Women', was published in the ''African Methodist Episcopal Review.'' Her work cautioned young African-American girls against too ready an acceptance of the Germanic myth. Campbell disagreed with

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

, who linked the “present improved condition” of modern women to the “exalted sentiment for women which prevailed among the Germans during Tacitus’ times.” Her observations were also contrasted to those of

Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was a pioneering African-American minister, academic and African nationalist. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money ...

, who wrote about the same topic a decade earlier.

Legacy

Campbell is one of only two women, along with

Helen Maria Chesnutt Helen Maria Chesnutt (1880–1969) was a teacher of Latin and the author of an influential biography and Latin text book. She was African American. Family life Helen Maria Chesnutt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1880. Her parents w ...

, to be featured in the '12 Black Classicists' exhibition, which celebrates the contributions of African Americans to Classical education in the 19th and early 20th centuries. She was also given an honorable mention in Lawson Andrew Scruggs' 19th century collection of distinctive Black Women.Scruggs, Lawson Andrew
Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works and Invincible in Character
United States: L. A. Scruggs, 1893. pp. 345.

Select publications

*"Die Beiden Piccolomini,” ''African Methodist Episcopal Church Review'' 1 (Jan., 1885), pp. 200–204 *“Tacitus’ German Women,” ''African Methodist Episcopal Church Review'' 2 (Oct., 1885), pp. 167-73 *“Milton’s Satan,” ''African Methodist Episcopal Church Review'' 7 (Oct., 1885), pp. 196–198 *“The Sixteenth Century in the Education of Modern Thought,” ''African Methodist Episcopal Church Review'' 19 (July, 1903), pp. 31–40.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Frazelia African-American people Classics educators American women educators 19th-century linguists Women linguists Linguists from the United States 1849 births 1930 deaths Women classical scholars American classical scholars People from Charleston, South Carolina