Anna E. Cooper (July 22, 1897 – 1988) was a Liberian educator, she was the first female dean of the

University of Liberia The University of Liberia (UL or LU in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia Coll ...

Early life and education

Cooper was born in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, Liberia, into a large and influential

Americo-Liberian Americo-Liberian people (also known as Congo people or Congau people),Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of African Am ...

family. Her father was Jesse Randolph Cooper; her mother was Sarah Braxton Cooper Barclay; one sister was Magdalene L. Cooper Dennis, Liberia's first university trained nurse; another sister was Cecelia Adeline Cooper who married ambassador Charles D. B. King, who was Liberia's president from 1920 to 1930. Her brothers Henry R. Cooper and Charles E. Cooper were also in government. Cooper studied at the

College of West Africa The College of West Africa is a Methodist high school in Monrovia, Liberia. The school was opened in 1839 as the Monrovia Seminary, making it one of the oldest European-style schools in Africa. It has produced many of Liberia's leaders. Alumni inc ...

in Monrovia. She went to the United States in 1914, and attended Central Alabama Institute,

Morgan State College Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1890, the university, then known a ...

, and finally

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, where she played basketball, was a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

and earned a bachelor's degree in 1921. She returned to the United States in 1931, earning a master's degree at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

. She also studied in London.

Career

Cooper taught at the College of West Africa from 1922 to 1928, and then as a science professor at Liberia College from 1929 to 1931, teaching chemistry and physics. In 1933, she organized the college's science department. Cooper became Dean of Administration at Liberia College, the first woman to be a dean at the school. She led the school's transformation into the University of Liberia in 1951. She retired in 1956. She was a founder of the first overseas chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, when she and others petitioned for a chapter in Monrovia in 1954. She was also active with the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

in Liberia. In 1978, she was honored by President

William Tolbert William Richard Tolbert Jr. (13 May 1913 – 12 April 1980) was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until his assassination in 1980. Tolbert was an Americo-Liberian and trained as a civil servant before en ...

, installed as a Knight Official in the

Humane Order of African Redemption The Humane Order of African Redemption, an order (honour), order presented by the government of Liberia, was founded on January 13, 1879 during the presidency of Anthony W. Gardiner. It is awarded for humanitarian work in Liberia, for acts supporti ...

Personal life

Cooper's son, James T. Phillips Jr., was a soil scientist and cabinet minister, executed during a military coup in 1980. Cooper died in 1988, aged 91 years.

References

External links

* A photograph taken in 1954, with University of Liberia president J. Max Bond and his wife, American congressman Joshua Evans Jr. and his wife Jessie Fant Evans, and Anna E. Cooper; from Internet Archive. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Anna E. 1897 births 1988 deaths Liberian educators Americo-Liberian people Cooper family (Liberia) Academic staff of the University of Liberia Howard University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Morgan State University alumni 20th-century Liberian people 20th-century Liberian women