On This Day in History, Sarah Jane Early Was Born

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A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali.
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
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November 15, 2012

On this date in 1825, Sarah Jane Early was born.

Sarah Jane Early was the first African American woman educator to become a college professor – in 1858!

She was a Black teacher, abolitionist, and feminist.

Sarah Jane Woodson Early was born in Chillicothe, OH. Much of her feminist and Black community involvement took place through the African Methodist Church (AME) and a number of Black educational institutions.

In 1856, she earned an L.B. degree from Oberlin College, becoming one of the first Black women to receive a college degree. From 1859 to 1860, while working at Wilberforce University, Early became the first Black woman college faculty member.

Read more here.

Learn about Harriet Tubman, another famed abolitionist.

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