Maudelle Tanner Bousfield (née Brown; June 1, 1885 – October 14, 1971) was an American educator. Bousfield was the first African–American woman to graduate from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, and the first African–American school principal within the

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

district.

Biography

Early life and education

Bousfield was born Maudelle Tanner Brown in

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

. Her parents were Charles Hugh Brown and Arrena Isabella Tanner Brown, who were both educators. Bousfield attended the Charles Kunkel Conservatory of Music in St. Louis during her youth. Bousfield enrolled at the University of Illinois in 1903. She graduated with honors in 1906, with degrees in astronomy and mathematics, becoming the first African-American woman graduate from the University of Illinois. After her time at the University of Illinois, Bousfield took courses at the Chicago Mendelssohn School of Music, and earned a master's degree in education at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Career

Women's Policy Committee of the War Manpower Commission

Bousfield played piano and taught mathematics before briefly resigning in 1914. Bousfield returned to teaching in 1922, later taking the principal's exam in 1926. Bousfield scored high on the exam and was assigned to head Keith Elementary School in 1927, becoming the first African–American school principal in the

district. In 1939, Bousfield became the first African–American high school principal in the same district, after being assigned to head the predominately African–American

Wendell Phillips High School Wendell Phillips Academy High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Phillips is part of the Chicago Public Schools district and is managed by the Acad ...

in Bronzeville neighborhood of the city. In addition to her tenure as principal, Bousfield served on the Women's Policy Committee of the

War Manpower Commission The War Manpower Commission was a World War II agency of the United States Government charged with planning to balance the labor needs of agriculture, industry and the armed forces. History The Commission was created by President Franklin D. R ...

, with Margaret A. Hickey and Sara Southall during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Bousfield retired from Wendell Phillips High School after eleven years in 1950, with plans to travel: "I'll have a chance to see some of the far away places that have made atlases so fascinating to me."

Later years and death

In her later years, Bousfield traveled, worked with the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

, and taught at

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 ...

. She also wrote a gardening column for the ''Chicago Defender'' newspaper. Bousfield served as the sixth international president (Supreme Basileus) of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

, the historically black sorority. She was a charter member of the

National Association of Negro Musicians The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is one of the oldest organizations in the United States dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of the music of African-Americans. NANM had its beginning on May 3, ...

. Bousfield died on October 14, 1971, aged 86, in Chicago.

Personal life and legacy

Bousfield was married once and had a daughter. In 1914, she married physician Midian Othello Bousfield and together they had a daughter, Maudelle (b. 1915; d. 2013). Bousfield's daughter was married businessman W. Leonard Evans Jr. Midian Bousfield died in 1948. Bousfield's cousin was artist

Henry Ossawa Tanner Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist and the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in Fren ...

. In 2013, a new residence hall at the University of Illinois was named Bousfield Hall, in her memory. The Maudelle Brown Bousfield Apartments are run by the

Chicago Housing Authority The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is a municipal corporation that oversees public housing within the city of Chicago. The agency's Board of Commissioners is appointed by the city's mayor, and has a budget independent from that of the city of C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bousfield, Maudelle Brown 1885 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American educators African-American women academics American women academics African-American academics University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni People from Chicago People from St. Louis Educators from Missouri Educators from Illinois 20th-century American women educators 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American educators Alpha Kappa Alpha presidents