Minnie Galt Braithwaite Jenkins (1874–1954) was a United States Indian Service (now known as the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

) school

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and the first woman to attempt to take classes at

The College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

Biography

Education

Braithwaite was born in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...

. On October 2, 1896, she petitioned the faculty at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

to allow her to attend

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

lectures. Her petition was denied 4 to 3. Among the seven men who voted, President of the College

Lyon Gardiner Tyler Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr. (August 24, 1853 – February 12, 1935) was an American educator, genealogist, and historian. He was a son of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States. Tyler was the 17th president of the College of William ...

voted in favor of the petition and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professor

John Lesslie Hall John Lesslie Hall (March 2, 1856 – February 23, 1928), also known as J. Lesslie Hall, was an American literary scholar and poet known for his translation of '' Beowulf''. Born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Jacob Hall, Jr., Hall attended Ran ...

voted against it.

Career

Braithwaite intended to travel to China as a medical missionary after being trained at William & Mary to be a doctor, but this plan was derailed when her petition to attend was denied. Instead, Braithwaite began her teaching career in 1899 at the Blue Canyon Day School near the

Hopi Reservation The Hopi Reservation ( Hopi: Hopituskwa) is a Native American reservation for the Hopi and Arizona Tewa people, surrounded entirely by the Navajo Nation, in Navajo and Coconino counties in north-eastern Arizona, United States. The site has ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. She later taught at the Fort Mojave School from 1902 to 1906. It was at Fort Mojave that she met and married Clarence W. Jenkins in 1906. Her memoir, ''Girl from Williamsburg'', was published in 1951.

Legacy

The Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Department at the College of William & Mary hosts an annual lecture in commemoration of her efforts to attend classes at the College. Some of her and her family’s papers can be found in the Special Collections Research Center at

Earl Gregg Swem Library The Earl Gregg Swem Library (colloquially Swem Library) is located on Landrum Drive at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The library is named for Earl Gregg Swem, College Librarian from 1920-1944. In 2008, the Princeton ...

. One such paper is a letter from William & Mary Board of Visitors member Thomas Barnes to Braithwaite regarding her petition to attend classes at the College. In 1996, her daughter Dorothy Jenkins Ross, a historian, published the book ''Jenkins Farms: Life on a Family Fruit Farm in Early California, 1910'' about her family's life in

Sutter County Sutter County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,633. The county seat is Yuba City. Sutter County is included in the Yuba City, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Sacra ...

, California.

References

External links

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Minnie Braithwaite
Special Collections at William & Mary {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Minnie Braithwaite 1874 births 1954 deaths People from Williamsburg, Virginia 19th-century American women educators Educators from Virginia 19th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators College of William & Mary people