Published on Feb 3, 2025
Fanny Jackson Coppin
Fanny Jackson Coppin was born in Washington D.C. in 1837. While born a slave, her aunt shortly thereafter purchased her freedom. This enabled Jackson Coppin to enroll at Oberlin College in Ohio. After personally teaching night classes to freedmen in the area, Oberlin appointed her the first Black student-teaching position.
Foraying into school leadership after graduation, Jackson Coppin moved to Philadelphia to work at the Institute For Colored Youth, where she became the principal until 1902. Passionate about young girls in particular, she established a Women’s Industrial Exchange at the institute and a Home for Girls and Young Women. Concurrently, Jackson Coppin served the African Methodist Episcopal Church as President of the AME Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society.
Jackson Coppin bridged faith, activism and education. At NCS, we partner with educators to create the best possible environments for young people. Jackson Coppin was an expert at creating these kinds of environments--spaces for students to explore new ways to thrive.
Sources: Boston University School of Theology, Coppin State University
Maudelle Brown Bousfield
Born in St. Louis in 1885, Maudelle Brown Bousfield was first a musician. She was the first Black student to attend the Charles Kunkel Conservatory of Music in St. Louis and the first Black woman to attend the University of Illinois. There, she studied mathematics and astronomy to pursue a career in mathematics education.
In 1927, Brown Bousfield became principal of Keith Elementary School and the first Black principal in the Chicago Public School System. She would do the same in 1939 at Wendell Phillips High School in the Bronzeville neighborhood, as the first Black principal of a high school in Chicago. Concurrently, Brown Bousfield earned a Master's Degree from the University of Chicago; and her thesis focused on how Black middle-schoolers could improve in reading and math when given the proper instruction.
Brown Bousfield taught people to find their gifts and use them to better humanity. She was a living, breathing example of this, being the first in practically everything she achieved. At NCS, we are grateful that both our coaches and the teachers we work with use their gifts to give students the best chance of using theirs.
Sources: University of Illinois Storied Magazine, University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Susie King Taylor
Susie King Taylor was born into slavery in Georgia in 1848. During her childhood, King Taylor’s grandmother secretly secured her literacy instruction. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, King Taylor and her family escaped to St. Simons Island. The captain of their transit ship, Whitmore, discovered her ability to read and write. This friendship led to her becoming a teacher at just 14, instructing about 40 children daily and adults by night on the island. King Taylor then joined the 33rd Black infantry regiment with the Union as a “laundress.” In reality, King Taylor both educated and healed the regiment’s men as a nurse–eluding small-pox, cholera, measles, malaria and more.
After the war, King Taylor opened three schools in Savannah and Liberty County, Georgia. After her husband died and public schooling expanded, King Taylor moved North and continued to work with veterans and their families. She chronicles her life and experiences during the war in detail in her memoir, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp.
Susie King Taylor overcame the threats of violence, disease and oppression all so children could learn to read and write. People like her are the reason NCS remains steadfast in challenging inequities and ensuring every young person has the opportunity to thrive in their educational environment.
Sources: Library of Congress, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center