Josephine Turpin Washington

Josephine Turpin Washington (July 31, 1861 – March 17, 1949) was an African-American writer and teacher. A long-time educator and a frequent contributor, Washington devised articles to magazines and newspapers typically concerning some aspect of racism in America. Washington was a great-granddaughter of Mary Jefferson Turpin, a paternal aunt of Thomas Jefferson.

Family

Josephine Turpin was born in Goochland County, Virginia on July 31, 1861, the daughter of Augustus A. Turpin and Maria V. Crump. Her father was a son of a former African slave named Mary and Edwin Durock Turpin (1783–1868), a grandson of Mary Jefferson Turpin and a great-grandfather of Odette Harper Hines. In her 1995 book, ''All is Never Said: The Narrative of Odette Harper Hines'' (written with Judith Rollins), Hines reveals that Turpin fell in love with Mary not long after she arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana aboard a slave ship and became his property. Sometime later he took the very unusual step for the day and married her. According to Hines, her great-grandfather took care that their children received an education and also broke with common practice in allowing his slaves to learn basic reading, writing and arithmetic.Penn. ''The Afro-American Press and Its Editors'', 1891, pp.393-396
Retrieved December 4, 2013

Early life

Turpin was first educated at home and later at public schools probably in Goochland, Virginia. After her family relocated to Richmond, Virginia she attended the Richmond Institute, later known as the Richmond Theological Seminary. She was among the 1886 graduating class at Howard University where during summer breaks she clerked for Frederick Douglass, then recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia. After her graduation she taught mathematics at Howard University until her marriage in 1888 to Dr. Samuel Somerville Hawkins Washington brought her to Birmingham, Alabama.Harlan and Smock. ''The Booker T. Washington Papers: 1904-6,'' 1979, p. 251
Retrieved December 4, 2013

Educator

Over her career Washington would serve on the faculties of Selma University, Tuskegee Institute, where her husband held the position of school physician, Alabama State University and Wilberforce University. She retired in 1934 after twenty years as dean of women at Wilberforce.Mrs. S. S. H. Washington. ''New York Times,'' March 19, 1949, p. 15

Writer

Washington's first article accepted for print, "A Talk about Church Fairs", appeared in the ''Virginia Star'' whilst she was still in her teens. In the piece she questioned the sale of wine at church fundraising events. Washington wrote essays such as "Higher Education for Women", which appeared in the ''People's Advocate'', and the introductions to ''Women of Distinction'' (1893) by Lawson A. Scruggs and ''Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction'' (1926) by Hallie Quinn Brown. She covered the gauntlet of issues concerning African-Americans, including employment and educational opportunities, the raising of children, and the challenges that threatens the bond between women and men. Washington defended the "progressive woman" who yearned for both a successful professional career and domestic life. As chair of the Executive Board of the Alabama State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, Washington penned their Federation Hymn, ''Mother Alabama''. She submitted numerous articles over her life for print in such publications as the ''Christian Recorder'', the ''New York Freeman'', the ''A. M. E. Review'', ''The Colored American Magazine'', and the ''New York Globe''.Library of Congress Copyright Office. ''Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1926,'' Part 1., 1927, p. 1194
Retrieved November 5, 2013Washington, Josephine - ''Facts On File History Database Center''
Retrieved December 5, 2013

These and other articles are gathered in Rita Dandridge's edition of ''The Collected Essays of Josephine J. Turpin Washington: A Black Reformer in the Post-Reconstruction South'' (University of Virginia Press, 2019).

Death

Washington died at the age of eighty-seven at her daughter's home in Cleveland, Ohio.

Resources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Josephine Turpin
1861 births
1949 deaths
Activists for African-American civil rights
People from Goochland County, Virginia
Writers from Virginia
Howard University alumni
Howard University faculty
20th-century African-American educators
Deans of women
Educators from Virginia
19th-century American women writers
19th-century American writers
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American writers
20th-century American educators
20th-century American women educators
American women academics
20th-century African-American women writers
20th-century African-American writers