Adelaide Casely-Hayford

Adelaide Casely-Hayford MBE (née Smith; 2 June 1868 – 24 January 1960), was a Sierra Leone Creole advocate, activist of cultural nationalism, teacher, fiction writer, and feminist. Her commitment to public service led her to improving the conditions of black men and women. She played an important role as an advocate of women's education in Sierra Leone to popularize Pan-Africanist and feminist politics in the early 1900s. In 1923, she founded a Girls' Vocational and Training School in Freetown to instil cultural and racial pride for Sierra Leoneans under colonial rule. In 1925, she attended a reception in honour of the Prince of Wales where she wore an African attire thereby creating a sensation in pursuit of Sierra Leone national identity and cultural heritage.