Oh! Let every little girl [and boy] thank our heavenly father for the blessed gift of His dear Son on the first Christmas Day, eighteen hundred and eighty years ago.
As we come to the end of nearly two years of posts on Black Women in America, I am thrilled to relate the story of the First African American woman to hold the post of principal of a large educational institute. It is gratifying to present such a gifted and godly woman, who demonstrated the vast qualities and capabilities of black women. It is also a pleasant bonus that this post comes with a heart-warming Christmas Story.
In her day, Fanny Jackson Coppin was widely known as an educator and an activist for freedom for blacks and women. She was born a slave in Washington, DC. Her aunt, Sarah Clark, purchased her freedom and then Fanny went to live with another aunt in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She worked as a domestic servant. At age fourteen she went to live in Newport, Rhode Island where she worked as a domestic for six years. Her employer George Henry Calvert was a writer and the grandson of Lord Baltimore of Maryland.
Fanny excelled in school and eventually attended Oberlin College, one of the few that were admitting African Americans. She pursued a classical course of study, usually only taught to men, becoming proficient in Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Fanny was one of only a few women to take these courses since it was felt at the time that women could not handle them. Fanny proved them all wrong.
Fanny went on to teach Latin, Greek, and mathematics at the Institute for Colored Youth. She was the principal of the girls’ high school department and taught the girls to master Caesar, Virgil, Cicero, Horace, and Xenophon’s Anabasis. Did you read any of these in high school? Clearly, race or skin color has nothing to do with determining intelligence. If you read any of my more than 50 posts on Black American Women, you would already know that African American women have excelled in every area of life. Fanny was among the first and very determined to demonstrate this truth.
When the headmaster, Ebenezer D. Bassett was appointed to minister in Haiti, Fanny Jackson replaced him as head principal, becoming the First black woman in the US to hold a position at that level in an educational institution. She remained at the institute for thirty-seven years. During her tenure she influenced many future black leaders and helped to shape some of the patterns for black education in the United States in the nineteenth century. She believed strongly in vocational training and introduced industrial training into the school with instruction in 10 trades.
In 1881, Fanny married Reverend Levi Jenkins Coppin. He was a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). Fanny held her membership in a Baptist church, but she became involved in the AME in missionary work. She was president of the Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society. In 1888, she was a delegate to London for the meeting of the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World. There she spoke forcefully about the intelligence of African American women and the tremendous responsibilities they assumed in every endeavor, including missions. In 1893, she delivered the same message at the Chicago World’s Fair.[1]
Fanny is mostly remembered for her work in education. As an activist she participated in speaking, lecturing, writing, and organizing black women’s clubs. She wrote many things but in honor of the Christmas season I am reproducing her popular short story “Christmas Eve Story” which was originally published in 1880 in the Christian Recorder. This publisher was an arm of the AME and was among the first to publish works by African Americans. It’s a heart-warming story with a purpose – to encourage communities to help the black children experiencing poverty because they lived in poor neighborhoods infested with disease.
Fanny resigned her post in 1902 and went to live in Cape Town, South Africa. She worked tirelessly with black women organizing mission societies. She founded Bethel Institute in Cape Town. Later she returned to Philadelphia where she died in 1913. In 1926 the High and Training School of Baltimore was renamed the Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School. In 1939 the name was changed to Coppin Teachers College and eventually became Coppin State University in 2004.
On February 11, 2022, a statue was unveiled at Coppin State University. There is also a Fanny Jackson Coppin Scholarship to help students and continue her legacy.
Christmas Eve Story
Once upon time, there was a little girl named Maggie Devins, and she had a brother named Johnny, just one year older than she. Here they both are. Now if they could they would get up and make you a bow. But dear me! We all get so fastened down in pictures that we have to keep as quiet as mice, or we’d tear the paper all to pieces. I’m going to tell you something about this little boy and girl, and perhaps some little reader will remember it. You see how very clean and neat both of them look. Well, if you had seen them when Grandma Devins first found them you never would have thought that they could be made to look as nice as this. Now hear their story:
Last Christmas Eve while Grandma Devins was sitting by her bright fire there was a loud knock at the door, and upon opening it, she found a policeman who had in his arms two children who were nearly dead. “I come, mum,” he said, “to ask you, if you will let these poor little young ones stay here to-night in your kitchen; their mother has just died from the fever. She lived in an old hovel around in Acorn Alley, and I’m afraid to leave the young ones there to-night, for they’re half starved and half frozen to death now. God pity the poor, mum, God pity the poor, for it’s hard upon then, such weather as this.”
Meanwhile, Grandma Devins had pulled her big sofa up to the fire and was standing looking down upon the dirty and pinched little faces before her. She didn’t say anything, but she just kept looking at the children and wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. All at once she turned around as if she had been shot; she flew to the pantry and brought out some milk which she put on the fire to boil. And very soon she had two steaming cups of hot milk with nice biscuit broken into it, and with this she fed the poor little creatures until a little color came into their faces, and she knew that she had given them enough for that time.
The policeman said he would call for the children in the morning and take them to the almshouse. The fact is the policeman was a kindhearted man, and he secretly hoped that he could get someone to take the children and be kind to them.
As soon as Maggie and Johnny had their nice warm milk they began to talk. Johnny asked Grandma Devins if she had anybody to give her Christmas presents, and Grandma said, “no.” But Maggie spoke up and said her mamma told her before she died that God always gave Christmas presents to those who had no one to give them any. And throwing her arms around Grandma’s neck she said, “God will not forget you, dear lady, for you’ve been so good to us.” Like a flash of light it passed through Grandma Devins’ mind that God had sent her these children as her Christmas gift. So she said at once:
“Children, I made a mistake. I have had a Christmas present.”
“There,” said Maggie, “I knew you would get one; I knew it.” When the policeman came in the morning his heart was overjoyed to see the “young ones,” as he called them, nicely washed and sitting by the fire bundled up in some of Grandma Devins’ dresses. She had burnt every stitch of the dirty rags which they had on the night before. So that accounted for their being muffled up so.
“You can go right away, policeman; these children are my Christmas gift, and please God I’ll be mother and father both to the poor little orphans.”
A year has passed since then, and she says that Johnny and Maggie are the best Christmas gifts that any old woman ever had. She has taught Maggie to darn and sew neatly, and one of these days she will be able to earn money as a seamstress. Have you noticed her little needle-case hanging against the wall? Do you see the basket of apples on one side? Johnny was paring them when Maggie asked him to show her about her arithmetic, for Johnny goes to school, but Maggie stays at home and helps Grandma. Now as soon as Grandma comes back she is going to make them some mince pies for Christmas. Johnny will finish paring the apples, while Maggie is stoning the raisins. Oh! What a happy time they will have to-morrow. For I will whisper in your ear, little reader, that Grandma Devins is going to bring home something else with her other than raisins.
The same kindhearted policeman who I told you about in the beginning, has made Johnny a beautiful sled, and painted the name “Hero” on it. Grandma has bought for Maggie the nicest little hood and cloak that ever you saw. Is that not nice? I guess if they knew what they’re going to get they wouldn’t sit so quietly as we see them; they’d jump up and dance about the floor, even if they tore the paper all to pieces. Oh! Let every little girl [and boy] thank our heavenly father for the blessed gift of His dear Son on the first Christmas Day, eighteen hundred and eighty years ago.
I hope you have been blessed by this story. God bless you all and Merry Christmas!
[1] This information and story from Collier-Thomas, Bettye. A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories. Beacon Press. Kindle Edition. Locations 388 to 455.
Fanny Jackson Coppin – Educator and Humanitarian
“Good manners will often take people where neither money nor education will take them.”
Oh! Let every little girl [and boy] thank our heavenly father for the blessed gift of His dear Son on the first Christmas Day, eighteen hundred and eighty years ago.
As we come to the end of nearly two years of posts on Black Women in America, I am thrilled to relate the story of the First African American woman to hold the post of principal of a large educational institute. It is gratifying to present such a gifted and godly woman, who demonstrated the vast qualities and capabilities of black women. It is also a pleasant bonus that this post comes with a heart-warming Christmas Story.
In her day, Fanny Jackson Coppin was widely known as an educator and an activist for freedom for blacks and women. She was born a slave in Washington, DC. Her aunt, Sarah Clark, purchased her freedom and then Fanny went to live with another aunt in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She worked as a domestic servant. At age fourteen she went to live in Newport, Rhode Island where she worked as a domestic for six years. Her employer George Henry Calvert was a writer and the grandson of Lord Baltimore of Maryland.
Fanny excelled in school and eventually attended Oberlin College, one of the few that were admitting African Americans. She pursued a classical course of study, usually only taught to men, becoming proficient in Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Fanny was one of only a few women to take these courses since it was felt at the time that women could not handle them. Fanny proved them all wrong.
Fanny went on to teach Latin, Greek, and mathematics at the Institute for Colored Youth. She was the principal of the girls’ high school department and taught the girls to master Caesar, Virgil, Cicero, Horace, and Xenophon’s Anabasis. Did you read any of these in high school? Clearly, race or skin color has nothing to do with determining intelligence. If you read any of my more than 50 posts on Black American Women, you would already know that African American women have excelled in every area of life. Fanny was among the first and very determined to demonstrate this truth.
When the headmaster, Ebenezer D. Bassett was appointed to minister in Haiti, Fanny Jackson replaced him as head principal, becoming the First black woman in the US to hold a position at that level in an educational institution. She remained at the institute for thirty-seven years. During her tenure she influenced many future black leaders and helped to shape some of the patterns for black education in the United States in the nineteenth century. She believed strongly in vocational training and introduced industrial training into the school with instruction in 10 trades.
In 1881, Fanny married Reverend Levi Jenkins Coppin. He was a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). Fanny held her membership in a Baptist church, but she became involved in the AME in missionary work. She was president of the Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society. In 1888, she was a delegate to London for the meeting of the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World. There she spoke forcefully about the intelligence of African American women and the tremendous responsibilities they assumed in every endeavor, including missions. In 1893, she delivered the same message at the Chicago World’s Fair.[1]
Fanny is mostly remembered for her work in education. As an activist she participated in speaking, lecturing, writing, and organizing black women’s clubs. She wrote many things but in honor of the Christmas season I am reproducing her popular short story “Christmas Eve Story” which was originally published in 1880 in the Christian Recorder. This publisher was an arm of the AME and was among the first to publish works by African Americans. It’s a heart-warming story with a purpose – to encourage communities to help the black children experiencing poverty because they lived in poor neighborhoods infested with disease.
Fanny resigned her post in 1902 and went to live in Cape Town, South Africa. She worked tirelessly with black women organizing mission societies. She founded Bethel Institute in Cape Town. Later she returned to Philadelphia where she died in 1913. In 1926 the High and Training School of Baltimore was renamed the Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School. In 1939 the name was changed to Coppin Teachers College and eventually became Coppin State University in 2004.
On February 11, 2022, a statue was unveiled at Coppin State University. There is also a Fanny Jackson Coppin Scholarship to help students and continue her legacy.
Christmas Eve Story
Once upon time, there was a little girl named Maggie Devins, and she had a brother named Johnny, just one year older than she. Here they both are. Now if they could they would get up and make you a bow. But dear me! We all get so fastened down in pictures that we have to keep as quiet as mice, or we’d tear the paper all to pieces. I’m going to tell you something about this little boy and girl, and perhaps some little reader will remember it. You see how very clean and neat both of them look. Well, if you had seen them when Grandma Devins first found them you never would have thought that they could be made to look as nice as this. Now hear their story:
Last Christmas Eve while Grandma Devins was sitting by her bright fire there was a loud knock at the door, and upon opening it, she found a policeman who had in his arms two children who were nearly dead. “I come, mum,” he said, “to ask you, if you will let these poor little young ones stay here to-night in your kitchen; their mother has just died from the fever. She lived in an old hovel around in Acorn Alley, and I’m afraid to leave the young ones there to-night, for they’re half starved and half frozen to death now. God pity the poor, mum, God pity the poor, for it’s hard upon then, such weather as this.”
Meanwhile, Grandma Devins had pulled her big sofa up to the fire and was standing looking down upon the dirty and pinched little faces before her. She didn’t say anything, but she just kept looking at the children and wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. All at once she turned around as if she had been shot; she flew to the pantry and brought out some milk which she put on the fire to boil. And very soon she had two steaming cups of hot milk with nice biscuit broken into it, and with this she fed the poor little creatures until a little color came into their faces, and she knew that she had given them enough for that time.
The policeman said he would call for the children in the morning and take them to the almshouse. The fact is the policeman was a kindhearted man, and he secretly hoped that he could get someone to take the children and be kind to them.
As soon as Maggie and Johnny had their nice warm milk they began to talk. Johnny asked Grandma Devins if she had anybody to give her Christmas presents, and Grandma said, “no.” But Maggie spoke up and said her mamma told her before she died that God always gave Christmas presents to those who had no one to give them any. And throwing her arms around Grandma’s neck she said, “God will not forget you, dear lady, for you’ve been so good to us.” Like a flash of light it passed through Grandma Devins’ mind that God had sent her these children as her Christmas gift. So she said at once:
“Children, I made a mistake. I have had a Christmas present.”
“There,” said Maggie, “I knew you would get one; I knew it.” When the policeman came in the morning his heart was overjoyed to see the “young ones,” as he called them, nicely washed and sitting by the fire bundled up in some of Grandma Devins’ dresses. She had burnt every stitch of the dirty rags which they had on the night before. So that accounted for their being muffled up so.
“You can go right away, policeman; these children are my Christmas gift, and please God I’ll be mother and father both to the poor little orphans.”
A year has passed since then, and she says that Johnny and Maggie are the best Christmas gifts that any old woman ever had. She has taught Maggie to darn and sew neatly, and one of these days she will be able to earn money as a seamstress. Have you noticed her little needle-case hanging against the wall? Do you see the basket of apples on one side? Johnny was paring them when Maggie asked him to show her about her arithmetic, for Johnny goes to school, but Maggie stays at home and helps Grandma. Now as soon as Grandma comes back she is going to make them some mince pies for Christmas. Johnny will finish paring the apples, while Maggie is stoning the raisins. Oh! What a happy time they will have to-morrow. For I will whisper in your ear, little reader, that Grandma Devins is going to bring home something else with her other than raisins.
The same kindhearted policeman who I told you about in the beginning, has made Johnny a beautiful sled, and painted the name “Hero” on it. Grandma has bought for Maggie the nicest little hood and cloak that ever you saw. Is that not nice? I guess if they knew what they’re going to get they wouldn’t sit so quietly as we see them; they’d jump up and dance about the floor, even if they tore the paper all to pieces. Oh! Let every little girl [and boy] thank our heavenly father for the blessed gift of His dear Son on the first Christmas Day, eighteen hundred and eighty years ago.
I hope you have been blessed by this story. God bless you all and Merry Christmas!
[1] This information and story from Collier-Thomas, Bettye. A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories. Beacon Press. Kindle Edition. Locations 388 to 455.
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Love is stronger than death. Don’t you know our real destination?
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