Anna J. Cooper
Anna J. Cooper | |
|---|---|
Cooper c. 1902 | |
| Born | Anna Julia Haywood August 10, 1858 |
| Died | February 27, 1964 (aged 105) Washington, D.C., US |
| Burial place | City Cemetery in Raleigh, NC |
| Education | |
| Known for | Fourth African American woman to receive a PhD |
| Spouse |
George A. C. Cooper
(m. 1877; died 1879) |
| Children | Lula Love Lawson (foster daughter) |
| Mother | Hannah Stanley Haywood |
| Relatives | John Haywood (grandfather) |
Anna Julia Cooper (née Haywood; August 10, 1858 – February 27, 1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Black liberation activist, Black feminist leader, and one of the most prominent African-American scholars in United States history.
Although born enslaved, Cooper pursued higher education at Oberlin College in Ohio, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1884 and a master's degree in mathematics in 1887. At the age of sixty-six, she completed her PhD at the Sorbonne University in Paris, making her the fourth African American woman to earn a PhD. She was also a prominent member of Washington, D.C.'s African-American community, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Cooper made contributions to social science fields, particularly in sociology. Her first book, A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South, is widely acknowledged as one of the first articulations of Black feminism, giving Cooper the often-used title of "the Mother of Black Feminism".