Sarah Ann Dickey (April 25, 1838 – January 23, 1904) was an American educator from Ohio who in 1875 founded

Mount Hermon Female Seminary Mount Hermon Female Sanctuary (18751924) in Clinton, Mississippi was a historically black institution of higher education for women. History Founded in 1875 by Sarah Ann Dickey, the school was patterned after Dickey's alma mater, Mount Holyoke ...

, a historically black institution of higher education for women in

Clinton, Mississippi Clinton is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. Situated in the Jackson metropolitan area, it is the tenth largest city in Mississippi. The population was 28,100 at the 2020 United States census. History Founded in 1823, Clint ...

. She returned to the north to get a degree at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Afterward, she went back to Mississippi to work on education for African Americans. She became an ordained minister in 1896 in the United Brethren Church. The women's college closed in the 1920s. Sumner Hill Junior High School developed at this site.

Background

Dickey was born in 1838 near

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

. Although her formal education did not begin until she was sixteen, she received a teacher's certificate three years later. During 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 ...

, the

Evangelical United Brethren Church The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant church from 1946 to 1968. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church (formerly the Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright) and the Church of t ...

sent her to

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vi ...

, to teach freedmen and their children from 1863 to 1865. In 1866, she enrolled in Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), graduating in 1869.

Career

After graduating, Dickey returned to Mississippi to continue working with African Americans recently freed from slavery, teaching for the American Missionary Association from 1869 to 1870 and then the new public schools of

until 1874. She organized and established the

, which opened in October 1875 in Clinton, Mississippi. The Seminary was modeled after her alma mater, Mount Holyoke, offering education for women, and preparing them for roles primarily as teachers. In 1896 Dickey was ordained a minister in her church, the United Brethren Church. She never married but raised several children left in her care. She remained at Mount Hernon Seminary until her death in 1904. The Seminary was merged with

Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was originally established in 1869 by New Yor ...

in 1924 by the American Missionary Association, which maintained the school after Dickey's death. The site of the seminary in Clinton is now Sumner Hill Junior High. An historical marker honoring Dickey was placed there on 29 April 2016.

References

Bibliography

1838 births 1904 deaths People from Dayton, Ohio 19th-century American educators Mount Holyoke College alumni {{US-edu-bio-stub