On May 2, 1879 Nannie Helen Burroughs was born, to parents John and Jennie, in Orange Virginia. Jennie moved Nannie and her younger sister to Washington D.C. believing that it would have better educational and job opportunities. John never moved with them and died sometime in the 1880s. Jennie Burroughs struggled to provide for her children and Nannie’s younger sister died in childhood.
Nannie graduated with honors from M Street Colored High School (now Dunbar High School) in 1898. Burroughs immediately sought a job as a teacher’s assistant but lost the position to an applicant with more political “pull” than she possessed. Unable to find a position in D.C. she moved to Philadelphia, PA where she worked as associate editor for the Christian Banner, a Baptist newspaper. Still determined to find gainful employment in D.C. she took the civil service exam, and after scoring high was unable to find employment in Washington. This turn of events led to her taking a position in Louisville, KY as secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention. This is where she found her stride.
At the 1900 National Baptist Convention annual conference in Richmond, Virginia, Burroughs was thrust into the limelight. Her engaging speech “How the Sisters are Hindered from Helping” charmed the crowd and elevated her position within the organization. Soon she was named Corresponding Secretary for Women’s Convention of the National Baptist Convention.
The National Trade and Professional School for Women and Girls
Nine years later, with the support of the National Baptist Convention she opened a trade school. The National Trade and Professional School for Women and Girls in Washington D.C., with Burroughs as it’s president. The school focused on high school and junior college level education, it emphasized professional and vocational skills. While her endeavors focused on empowering women in a capitalistic world she also had opinions on materialism and assimilation.
“When the Negro learns what manner of man he is spiritually, he will wake up all over. He will stop
playing white even on the stage….He will glorify the beauty of his own brown skin. He will stop
thinking white and go to thinking straight and living right ….
He will realize that wrong-reaching, and wrong-bleaching and wrong-mixing have “most nigh ruin’t
him” and he will redeem his body and rescue his soul from the bondage of that death…1 believe it
is the Negro’s sacred duty to spiritualize American life and popularize his color instead of worship-
ping the color (or lack of color) of another race.”
– Nannie Helen Burroughs
By 1928 the school had expanded it’s operations, course offerings, and constructed a larger building. Student population also increased and she had students from the Caribbean, and Africa as well. Burroughs continued as principal of the school until her death in 1961. The institution was later renamed the Nannie Burroughs school and designated a National Historic Landmark.
The Southern Workman, 56 (July 1927): 299-301
Harley, S. (1996). Nannie Helen Burroughs: “The Black Goddess of Liberty.” The Journal of Negro History, 81(1/4), 62–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2717608
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/burroughs-nannie-helen-1883-1961/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nannie_Helen_Burroughs
