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Contribution #222 of 365
Lucy Diggs Slowe
College Dean, Educator and Black Women's Leadership Builder
1917–1937
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born in Virginia in 1885 and orphaned as a child, Lucy Diggs Slowe became an educator and institution builder. She helped found Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, organized Washington's first junior high school for Black students and became Howard University's first dean of women. Slowe developed professional guidance, student services and leadership networks that expanded educational opportunity for Black women.