Mary Jane Patterson (September 12, 1840 – September 24, 1894) was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

woman to receive a B.A degree, in 1862.

Life

Mary Jane Patterson was the oldest of Henry Irving Patterson and Emeline Eliza (Taylor) Patterson's children. There is conflicting data on how many siblings she had, but most sources cite between seven and ten. Henry Patterson worked as a bricklayer and plasterer who gained his freedom, after Mary was born, in 1852. After this, he moved his family north to Ohio. The Pattersons settled in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of th ...

, in 1856. Oberlin had a large community of black families; some were freed slaves and some were fugitive slaves. Oberlin was popular because it had a racially integrated

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

college. Henry Patterson worked as a master mason, and for many years the family boarded large numbers of black students in their home.

Teaching career

"Mary Jane Patterson not only was the first black woman in the United States to earn a college degree, she did it by spurning the usual courses for women at Oberlin, and taking instead a program of Greek, Latin, and higher mathematics designed for 'gentlemen.'"Sowell, Thomas, ''Black excellence -- the case of Dunbar High School," ''The Public Interest'', Spring 1974, p.7.
/ref> After graduation Patterson was listed as teaching in

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Coun ...

. On September 21, 1864, she applied for a position in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

at a school for black children. On October 7, 1864, E. H. Fairchild, principal of Oberlin College's preparatory department from 1853 to 1869, wrote a recommendation for an "appointment from the American missionary Association as a ... teacher among freedmen." In this letter he described her as "a light quadroon, a graduate of this college, a superior scholar, a good singer, a faithful Christian, and a genteel lady. She had success is teaching and is worthy of the highest ... you pay to ladies." In 1865 Patterson became an assistant to

Fanny Jackson Coppin Fanny Jackson Coppin (October 15, 1837 – January 21, 1913) was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education. One of the first Black alumnae of Oberlin College, she served as principal of the Institute for ...

at the Philadelphia's

Institute for Colored Youth The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It became the first high school for African-Americans in the United States, although there were schools that admitted African Americans preceding it ...

(now

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest university out of all historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. It is a m ...

). In 1869 to 1871 Patterson taught in Washington, D. C., at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth known today as

Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) Paul Laurence Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C. The school was America's first public high school for black students. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, tw ...

. She served as the school's first Black principal, from 1871 to 1872. Patterson was demoted and served as assistant principal under

Richard Theodore Greener Richard Theodore Greener (1844–1922) was a pioneering African Americans, African-American scholar, excelling in elocution, philosophy, law and classics in the Reconstruction era. He broke ground as Harvard College's first Black graduate in 18 ...

, the first black Harvard University graduate. She was reappointed from 1873 to 1884. During her administration, the school grew from less than 50 to 172 students, the name "Preparatory High School" was dropped, high school commencements were initiated, and a teacher-training department was added to the school. Patterson's commitment to thoroughness as well as her "forceful" and "vivacious" personality helped her establish the school's strong intellectual standards. Patterson continued to teach at the High School until her death. While in D.C., Patterson lived with her sisters, Emma and Chanie, and her brother, John at 1532 Fifteenth Street Northwest. In the Late 1880s Patterson's parents came to live with them due to financial difficulties. Neither Patterson nor her sisters ever married.

Other pursuits

Patterson was also a humanitarian and was active in many organizations. She devoted time and money to Black institutions in Washington, D. C. Her obituary in the ''Evening Star'' said she "co-operated heartily in sustaining the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored People in this city and other Kindred organizations." Patterson was part of the Colored Woman's League of Washington D.C., which was committed to the "racial uplift" of colored women. The group focused on kindergarten teaching training, rescue work, and classes for industrial schools and homemaking. Hutchinson, Louise Daniel. Anna J. Cooper: ''A Voice From the South''. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981. .

Death and legacy

Patterson died at her Washington, D. C. home, September 24, 1894, at the age of 54. She is known as a pioneer in black education by paving the way for other black female educators.

References

Baumann,Roland M. "Patterson, Mary Jane." ''African American National Biography.'' Oxford African American Studies Center. 20 October 2009. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Mary Jane African-American people Oberlin College alumni 1840 births 1894 deaths American educators People from Raleigh, North Carolina African-American college graduates before 1865