Oberlin's Women: A Legacy of Leadership & Activism

Fanny Jackson Coppin

Fanny Jackson Coppin (1837-1913, OC 1865) was an educator and missionary. Coppin was born a slave but was bought by an aunt while still a child. While working as a domestic servant, Coppin enrolled at Oberlin College in 1860. She graduated in 1865 and began teaching mathematics, Latin, and Greek at the Institute for Colored Youth. She was appointed the principal of the Female Department and later became principal of the Institute, which made her the first African-American woman to hold a position as a principal. She established an Industrial Department and a Women’s Industrial Exchange at the institute, as well as a training program for teachers that included practice training. Coppin also created a Home for Girls and Young Women, which served to house workers who had moved from far away. In 1902 Coppin retired from the school and moved to Cape Town, South Africa with her husband. While living in Africa, she worked as a missionary. She later wrote an autobiography about her experiences as an teacher. Coppin has been recognized for her work as an educator, which helped many African Americans gain positions that used their education and helped them to thrive. The High and Training School of Baltimore was renamed the Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School in 1926 in her honor. The school is now Coppin State University.

Sources:
“Coppin, Fannie Marion Jackson (1837-1913).” Boston University. Accessed June 18, 2020. http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/coppin-fannie-marion-jackson-1837-1913/

“Fanny Jackson Coppin.” Coppin State University. Accessed June 18, 2020.  https://www.coppin.edu/fannyjacksoncoppin

“Fanny Jackson Coppin.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fanny-Jackson-Coppin

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