Fannie jackson coppin biography

Fanny Jackson Coppin (October 15, 1837 – January 21, 1913) was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education.
Fanny Jackson Coppin was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education.
American educator and missionary whose innovations as head principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia included a practice-teaching system.

•

The audio podcast for this Highlight will be available soon.
The feed is located here if you would like to subscribe.

Documenting the American South's second Black History Month Highlight focuses on the life and accomplishments of Fanny Jackson Coppin. Coppin was born into slavery in Washington, D.C., in 1837. Her freedom was purchased for $125 by her aunt, but sources differ on the exact date of her manumission. In 1865 she became only the second African American woman in the nation to earn her A.B. degree.

The title of Coppin's autobiography, Reminiscences of School Life, and Hints on Teaching, communicates the focus of her narrative. Coppin relates a few brief sketches of her childhood in the District of Columbia but concentrates on her pursuit of education and her desire to train other educators. As a young woman, Coppin attended schools and took private lessons whenever possible. She eventually finished the coursework at the Rhode Island State Normal School, where she learned that teaching "can be made so interesting" and decided to further her education (p. 11). At

•

Coppin, Fannie Marion Jackson (1837-1913)

African-American educator and missionary

Jackson was born into slavery in Washington, D.C., but her freedom was purchased by an aunt. Eventually she moved to Newport, Rhode Island, as a domestic servant. After completing a teaching course, she enrolled at Oberlin College, the first college in America open to blacks. Driven by a sense of mission to African Americans, she opened a night class for freedmen. Oberlin then appointed her as the first black student to teach in its preparatory department. After graduating in 1865, she became principal of the Female Department of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, a Quaker institution. In less than five years, she became principal of the entire school. Under her leadership, the institute specialized in educating African Americans as teachers and also added industrial training to its curriculum. The first black woman to head an institution of higher learning, she remained until her retirement in 1902.

In 1881 she married Levi Coppin, an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister. She

•

Fanny Jackson Coppin

Teacher, principal, lecturer, missionary to Africa, and warrior against the most cruel oppression, Fanny Jackson Coppin conquered overwhelming obstacles and became the beacon by which future generations would set their courses.

Born a slave in the nation’s capital, the child Fanny was purchased by an aunt. Another aunt took the little girl in, but Fanny had to go out and work as a domestic, getting schooling whenever she could. By age fourteen, she was supporting herself in Newport, Rhode Island, and struggling for education. “It was in me,” she wrote years later, “to get an education and to teach my people. This idea was deep in my soul.” She attended Rhode Island State Normal School and then Oberlin College, where her achievements were amazing. She was the first black person chosen to be a pupil-teacher there. In her senior year, she organized evening classes to teach freedmen.

After her graduation in 1865, Fanny Jackson was appointed to the Institute for Colored Youth, a Quaker school in Philadelphia. Within four years, she became head principal, from wh