Geek of the Week -- Fannie Jackson Coppin

  

In conjunction with the Class Tetris team's Detention badge, this week we are profiling African American educator Fannie Jackson Coppin as our Ravenclaw Geek of the Week.

Fannie Jackson was born into slavery in 1837, but was freed at the age of 10 or 12 (sources differ) when her aunt was able to purchase her.  By the age of 14, she was working as a domestic and fitting in education however she could.  She was eventually able to attend the Rhode Island State Normal School and Oberlin College in Ohio. As a junior at Oberlin, she became the first black student instructor, taking on two classes for Oberlin and organizing evening classes for freedmen.

Upon graduation, Fannie began teaching at The Institute for Colored Youth, now Cheyney University.  Within four years she became the principal of the school, the first African American woman to hold that position.  She spent 37 at the Institute and greatly expanded the curriculum at the school, adding industrial arts, a normal school (teachers college), and a practice teaching program.  In addition she persuaded employers to hire her graduates and established a home for girls and young women to have safe accommodations while they were working.
     
Fannie Jackson married the Rev. Levi Coppin in 1881. She continued with her work at the Institute as well as advocating for civil and women's rights. She retired in 1902 and journeyed with her husband to South Africa, where they founded a missionary school in Cape Town. Fannie Jackson Coppin died on this day, January 21, in 1913.  Coppin State University in Baltimore is named in her honor.

For her determination to acquire an education and her lifelong zeal for helping others do the same, Fannie Jackson Coppin is a most deserving Ravenclaw Geek of the Week!

Learn more about Fannie Jackson Coppin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Jackson_Coppin
https://www.coppin.edu/info/200178/
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-381

We are featuring people who help us learn and play this term. Got a Geek you’d like us to feature? Tell us about them here.