Mary Annette Anderson (July 27, 1874 – May 2, 1922) was an American

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of grammar and history and the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

. Anderson was born in Shoreham,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, to William and Philomine (Langlois) Anderson. Her father, a farmer, was a freed slave originally from Virginia, and her mother was a Canadian immigrant of French and Native American ancestry. Anderson was educated at the Northfield School for Young Ladies in

Northfield, Massachusetts Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Northfield was first settled in 1673. The population was 2,866 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Connecticut R ...

, before entering Middlebury College in 1895. She graduated in 1899 as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

, becoming the first African American woman elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Following graduation from Middlebury, Anderson taught at

Straight University Straight University, after 1915 Straight College, was a historically black college that operated between 1868 and 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana. After struggling with financial difficulties, it was merged with New Orleans University to form ...

in New Orleans before being appointed a professor of English grammar and history at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

in Washington, D.C. She married Walter Lucius Smith on August 7, 1907, and gave up teaching. She died on May 2, 1922, after a short illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Mary Annette 1874 births 1922 deaths People from Shoreham, Vermont Middlebury College alumni Howard University faculty American people of French-Canadian descent Academics from Vermont 20th-century American educators