Fanny Jackson Coppin

Fanny Jackson was born a slave in Washington, D.C. on October 15, 1837. Fanny had fond memories of her maternal grandmother whom she called "Mammy." Her grandmother smoked a pipe. Unfortunately, Jackson was in the care of Mammy when she received one of two severe burns as a child. The coal from Mammy's pipe burned her chest on one occasion and on another, she received a burn on the side of her leg from being placed too close to a stove. Jackson also suffered from severe fevers and chills, "Sometimes I would be taken with a shaking ague on the street, and would have to sit down upon a doorstep until I would stop shaking enough to go on my way."

When she was about 12, Fanny's freedom was purchased by her aunt, Sarah Orr Clark. Sarah Orr was a housekeeper and earned six dollars a month. She saved $125 to buy her neice Fanny. In 1851, when Fanny was 14, she and another aunt, Elizabeth Orr, moved to Newport, Rhode Island. In order not to be a burden on her aunt, Fanny lived with, and worked for, George H. Calvert, the great grandson of Lord Baltimore, the settler of the state of Maryland. Mr. Calvert was married to Mary Stuart, who was a descendant of Mary, Queen of Scotland. The Calverts did not have any children of their own. They loved Fanny like a daughter and cared for her health. While living with the Calverts, Fanny recovered from having the chills and fevers that she had her during her childhood.

"My life there was most happy, and I never would have left her, but it was in me to get an education and to teach my people. This idea was deep in my soul. Where it came from I cannot tell. It must have been born in me."

Fanny completed a two-year course at the Rhode Island Normal School. In1860 she entered Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was the first college in the United States to accept blacks and female students. To help pay for her education, Fanny gave piano lessons to children of Oberlin's faculty members. She also received money from her aunt Sarah Orr Clark and other black leaders.

While at Oberlin Fanny took courses in Greek, mathematics and English. She also continued to take private French lessons. She sang in the Oberlin Church choir, and was a member of the Young Ladies Literary Society. Jackson was still a student at Oberlin during the Civil War years. She taught an evening class for the freed slaves who came to the city of Oberlin. She taught reading and writing to these students. It was an experience she never forgot:

"It was deeply touching to me to see old men painfully following the simple words of spelling, so intensely eager to learn. I felt that for such people to have been kept in the darkness of ignorance was an unpardonable sin."

Fanny was the first African American selected to teach in Oberlin's Preparatory Department. She was selected because of her academic achievements and successful evening classes for freed slaves. The Oberlin faculty committee told Fanny that if any students objected to her teaching, she would be removed from the class. No students complained. Her class grew, and she was asked to teach two classes instead of one. One of the two sections then grew, and she was asked to teach three classes. At this point, the faculty prevented Fanny from overloading her schedule. She was thankful for the honor of teaching at Oberlin, "It took a little moral courage on the part of the faculty to put me in my place against the old custom of giving classes only to white students," she said.

In 1865, Fanny Jackson moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to accept a position offered by the Institute for Colored Youth. The Institute was established in 1837, by Quakers, for the higher education of black youth. The Institute consisted of a preparatory department, separate boys' and girls' high school course of study, and teacher training course.

When Fanny came to the Institute, she was made principal of the Ladies Department. She also taught Greek, Latin, and higher Mathematics. In 1869, Fanny Jackson was appointed principal of the entire Institution. She became the first African American woman to become a school principal. During the first year as principal, Jackson made many changes and improvements. She prohibited corporal punishment. She developed and maintained a close working relationship between students, parents, faculty and Managers. She held regular parent-teacher meetings and sent "conduct papers" to parents. Jackson's work at the Institution influenced other schools and systems. For example, the Philadelphia School district adopted her system of sending progress "conduct papers" to parents.

Jackson contributed to Philadelphia's black community's social and religious activities. She created the Women's Exchange and Girls' Home. The Home provided housing and instruction in dressmaking, cooking and domestic economy for students and workers. She also served, for thirty years, as a member of the board of managers for the Home for Aged and Infirmed Colored People in Philadelphia. In addition to her activities in the black community, Jackson participated in city-wide activities. She was appointed member of the Board of City Examiners for Clerical Officers, and served as a French interpreter in the Philadelphia court system.

In November, 1879, Jackson served as president of the committee which sponsored a Fair, in Philadelphia. The Fair was held to raise money for the Christian Recorder. Fanny was forced to participate in the Fair's activities, often late at night. So, she hired the Institute's janitor as her escort. One of the ministers who attended the Fair was Bishop Levi Jenkins Coppin. Coppin heard of Fanny Jackson's arrangement with the janitor. Coppin made a bet with one of his friends. He told his friend that before the Fair closed, he would have the janitor dismissed, and take his place. On December 21, 1881, Fanny Jackson married Bishop Levi J. Coppin and changed her name to Fanny Jackson-Coppin. Jackson-Coppin immediately became involved in her husband's church activities.

Jackson-Coppin continued to make changes at the Institute for Colored Youth. She was angered by the fact that the only way for a black male in Philadelphia to acquire a trade was to first be in prison. She raised three thousand dollars from the citizens of Philadelphia and established the Industrial Department at the Institute. The Industrial Department offered courses for the trades of tailoring, bricklaying, carpentry, plastering, shoemaking, printing, stenography, dressmaking, millinery, and typewriting.

Jackson-Coppin wrote articles for several newspapers. Her articles encouraged women to acquire an education, and become successful members of the work force. She was an excellent speaker. She often spoke on the same programs with prominent blacks, such as the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In many of her speeches, Jackson encouraged blacks to combine their efforts to overcome educational and employment obstacles.

In 1902, Jackson-Coppin went with her husband to South Africa and became an instant celebrity and friend to her African sisters. While in South Africa, she and her husband organized the Bethel Institute, a missionary school with self-help programs.

In 1903, Fanny Jackson-Coppin retired from the Institute, after nearly 40 years of service. Her health begin to suffer from the many years of hard work. During the last years of her life, she wrote Reminiscences of School Life, and Hints on Teaching. The book is a collection of teaching techniques and stories of some of the Institute's graduates. She dedicated the book to her beloved aunt, Sarah Orr Clark, who bought her freedom. Fanny Jackson-Coppin never forgot the support of her aunt and others who gave her the opportunity to prove herself as a student and educator. She always advised other teachers how to treat students and their supporters:

"Never let the word "dumb" be used in your class, or anything said disrespectful of parents or guardians who may have helped the child. I am always sorry to hear that such and such as person is going to school to be educated. This is a great mistake. If the person is to get the benefit of what we call education, he must educate himself, under the direction of the teacher."

A total of 668 students graduated from the Institute during the time Fanny Jackson-Coppin was there. From the establishment of the Institute, to the time of Jackson-Coppin's retirement, no student had failed the teacher certification examination. The Institute's graduates became black America's leading teachers, lawyers, top-ranking civil servants, college administrators, professors, dentists, and physicians.

The Institute for Colored Youth relocated to Cheney, Pennsylvania and later became Cheney State University. In Baltimore, Maryland, a school was established named Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School. It is now the present Coppin State College. Fanny Jackson-Coppin's crusade for industrial education and self-help for Blacks, resulted in their social and economic advancement. Her message of equal opportunity, delivered almost two centuries ago, holds true even today:

"We should strive to make known to all men the justice of our claims to the same employment as other men under the same conditions. We do not ask that any one of our people shall be put in a position because he is a colored person, but we do ask that he shall not be kept out of a position because he is a colored person. 'An open field and no favors' is all that is requested."

In rescuing her from slavery, Sarah Orr Clark gave to the world, a priceless gift to humanity--Fanny Jackson-Coppin.