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Contribution #215 of 365
Anna Julia Cooper
President and Home-Campus Builder of Frelinghuysen University
1930–1940
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born enslaved in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1858, Anna Julia Cooper pursued advanced education and devoted her career to expanding Black learning. Around 1930 she became president of Frelinghuysen University in Washington, D.C., an institution serving working adults who had limited access to higher education. When the university needed a stable campus, Cooper offered her own home for its use without charge. By combining leadership, personal property and long-term service, she helped preserve an educational institution that brought academic and vocational opportunity directly to Black working people.