Nettie Langston Napier (born Nettie DeElla Langston) was an African-American activist for the rights of women of color during the early part of the 20th century. She lived in Nashville, Tennessee.

Biography

Nettie Langston was born June 17, 1861 in Oberlin, Ohio, into an upper-class family. Her father was John Mercer Langston, later the founding dean of the law school at Howard University, first president of

Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of highe ...

, a historically black college, and the first black person to be elected to the United States Congress from Virginia. Her mother was Caroline Matilda (Wall), also a graduate of Oberlin. After attending Howard for a year, Nettie transferred to

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, where she studied music. Her future husband,

James Carroll Napier James Carroll Napier (June 9, 1845 – April 21, 1940) was an American businessman, lawyer, politician, and civil rights leader from Nashville, Tennessee, who served as Register of the Treasury from 1911 to 1913. He is one of only five African ...

, was then working at the State Department and earned his law degree at Howard, where he met John Mercer Langston and his family. Napier returned to Nashville in 1872 to start a law practice. In 1878 he and Nettie married in Washington D.C., in a "predominantly white Congregational church". They adopted a daughter, Carrie. Napier became a "prominent clubwom " in Nashville, and made important social connections across the South. She was part of a "southern network" of about a dozen upper-class women, including such prominent women as

Maggie L. Walker Maggie Lena (née Draper Mitchell) Walker (July 15, 1864 – December 15, 1934) was a businesswoman and teacher. In 1903, Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as ...

, Mary McLeod Bethune, Margaret Murray Washington,

Jennie B. Moton Jennie B. Moton (1879-1942) was an American educator and clubwoman. As a special field agent for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) in the 1930s and 40s, she worked to improve the lives of rural African Americans in the South. She di ...

, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and Lucy Craft Laney. She was a close friend of the educator John Hope, and was described as "the first lady of Nashville's black elite". The Napier household was known as "the undisputed center of Nashville's African American upper class". In 1907 she founded the Day Homes' Club, an organization to support African-American children in Nashville. Josie English Wells was physician in charge. She was involved with

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 ...

, and was invited by the local Red Cross chapter to work with them during World War I. She was treasurer of the National Association of Colored Women, leading the organization together with Margaret Murray Washington. In 1915, during a decade when the national Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) was considering expanding its services to colored women (its facilities would be segregated), Napier attended the organization's conference in Louisville, as the representative of Nashville. She wanted to establish a YWCA in Nashville for women of color. In the 1920s, she became an Honorary Member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. In 1934 students of Tennessee State College's "negro history class" honored her and her husband with a pageant entitled ''From Africa to America''. Napier died on September 30, 1938, in Nashville.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langston Napier, Nettie 1861 births 1938 deaths African-American activists American civil rights activists American women civil rights activists Langston family Oberlin College alumni People from Oberlin, Ohio Activists from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century African-American people