Terrell, Mary Church (1863–1954)

Terrell was one of the first black women to earn a college degree, graduating in Classics from Oberlin College in 1884. She worked in education, rising from teacher to the D.C. Board of Education, the first black woman in the United States to do so. She was a founder of the NAACP and the first president of the National Association of Colored Women. She worked ardently for women’s suffrage and the segregation of public facilities in DC ended in 1953 when she was 90 years old.