Sarah Jane Woodson Early (1825 – 1907)
Sarah Jane was the first African American woman to become a college professor. Graduating from Oberlin College in Ohio, she was also one of the first black women to receive a college degree. She was hired by Wilberforce College in 1858, the first college that was owned and operated by African Americans. She later married Minister Jordan Winston Early, one of the founders for African Methodism, a predominately black Methodist religion, in the West and South.
Mary Jane Patterson (1840 – 1894)
Mary Jane was the first African American woman to receive a bachelor’s degree. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1862. She went on to teach at the Institute for Colored Youths in Philadelphia for seven years and then moved to Washington where she taught for two years before becoming the first African American woman to become principal for the Preparatory High School for Negros in 1871.
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898 – 1989)
Sadie Tanner was the first African American woman to enroll in and graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. She was also the first to receive a Ph.D. in the US. She was elected the first president of the historically black sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, and featured as the “Woman of the Year” in the National Urban League’s comic book “Negro Heroes.” She was also appointed to President Truman’s Committee on Human Rights in 1947 and appointed as chair of the White House Conference on Aging by President James Carter in 1978.