Hortense Parker Gilliam, born Hortense Parker (1859–1938), was the first known African-American graduate of

Mount Holyoke Female Seminary Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

, in 1883. She taught music and piano at elementary school in Kansas City, Missouri from 1906 to 1913. That year she married James Marcus Gilliam, and moved with him to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, where she taught music and lived the rest of her life.

Early life and education

Hortense Parker was the fourth of six children born to the free people of color John Parker and Miranda Parker in

Ripley, Ohio Ripley is a village in Union Township, Brown County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 50 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 1,750 at the 2010 census. History Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American Revolution, ar ...

. She had three older brothers and two sisters. Her mother was freeborn in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Born into slavery, her father had bought his freedom and became a noted

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, inventor, and industrialist. Before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, he aided hundreds of slaves to escape by the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

."Hortense Parker"
Ohio History Central, accessed 5 February 2011 Her parents' house has been designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

and restored, now called the John P. Parker House after her father. The Parkers ensured that all their children became well educated. Hortense Parker and her two younger sisters studied music as children, in addition to traditional subjects. Hortense went to

(now Mount Holyoke College), where she graduated in 1883, the first known African-American graduate."Hortense Parker"
, ''Our Path: Students of Color at Mt. Holyoke'' exhibit, Alumnae & Student Conference, 2007, Mount Holyoke College, accessed 5 February 2011

Career

She worked in several cities teaching music, among them Kansas City, where Parker taught from 1906 to 1913 at Lincoln School (later W.W. Yates).John Parker, ''Hortense Parker Gilliam''
1905, Local History book, Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Library

Marriage and family

In 1913 Parker married James Marcus Gilliam, a graduate of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

.Photograph of Hortense Parker Gilliam and her husband, 1932
Archival Digital Image Database, Mount Holyoke College, accessed 5 February 2011 They moved to St. Louis, where her brother Horatio Parker was living.John P. Parker, ''HIS PROMISED LAND: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN P. PARKER, FORMER SLAVE AND CONDUCTOR ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD''
Edited by Stuart Seely Sprague, New York: Norton, 1996, pp. 11-12, 83, accessed 5 February 2011 There Gilliam served as a principal for most of his career. Parker Gilliam taught music for many years. She died on December 9, 1938.

Legacy and honors

*As the first African-American graduate of Mt. Holyoke, Parker Gilliam was featured in ''Our Path: Students of Color at Mt. Holyoke'' at the 2007 Alumnae Student Conference there.

References

External links

Photograph of Mount Holyoke students c. 1883, including Hortense Parker
Mt. Holyoke College
Photograph of Hortense Parker Gilliam and her husband James Marcus Gilliam, 1932
Archival Digital Image Database, Mt. Holyoke College {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Hortense Mount Holyoke College alumni African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Missouri American women educators 1859 births 1938 deaths People from Ripley, Ohio 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women