Nannie Helen Burroughs and the Early Rise of Womanism

• In Event: Liberation and Education: Historical Perspectives on Black Educational Thought

Abstract

Purpose: In the decades that it has taken to unfold the very intricate life of Nannie Helen Burroughs, there is solid evidence of her advocacy and leadership as a school founder, activist educator, club woman, orator, race woman, and religious and civic leader. In addition to these characterizations, this paper presents an argument for seeing Burroughs as an early womanist.
Perspective: The paper examines Burroughs’s life work through the lens of womanism. Womanism is an anti-oppressive way of knowing that is grounded in the experiences of Black woman and of other women of color.
Modes of inquiry and data sources: The paper employs a historical method that draws upon a substantial archive of Burroughs’s papers, which includes interviews with her former students, neighbors, and fellow religious leaders.
Conclusions: The paper concludes that Burroughs should be viewed as a womanist. The term womanism was coined by Alice Walker more than two decades after Burroughs’s death. However, this paper argues that Burroughs’s educational thought, political philosophy, and spiritual practices embody tenets of early womanist thinking; for this reason, she should be seen as one of the first womanists.
Significance: This paper contributes a new perspective on the legacy of a major Black educator, thought leader, and change agent who, with limited material resources and against the triple complexities of sexism, racism, and classism, fought to ensure a high-quality education for African American girls and women and to pave the road toward their liberation.

Author

• Traki L. Taylor, Bowie State University