Charity Akoshiwo Tornyewonya Zormelo, subsequently Mrs Fiawoo (1904 – 14 October 1945) was the first woman graduate from the Gold Coast, and the first woman from English-speaking West Africa to earn a B. S. degree.

Life

Charity Zormelo, an Ewe born in

Keta Keta is a coastal town and the capital of the Keta Municipal District in the Volta Region of Ghana. Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they fe ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, was the daughter of Godfred Nyavor Zormelo, a former North German Mission employee and fishing business proprietor, and Patience Abolitsi Dzokotoe. Victoria Zormelo-Gorleku was her younger half-sister. Completing elementary school education at the local

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. It cooperates with other Methodist ...

Zion School in 1919, Zormelo taught for a while before being sponsored by the local minister to travel to the United States in 1926 for further study. In 1930 she graduated from high school in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a City (New Jersey), city in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 3,993, an increase of 69 (+1.8%) from the 2010 United ...

, and used a $300 scholarship to enroll in

Home Economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

. Active in student societies, she graduated in 1934. Though she was recommended to

Achimota College Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school ...

, there were no teaching vacancies there and on returning to the Gold Coast she began teaching at Mmofraturo, a recently founded

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

girls boarding-school at

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

. A public lecture on education, delivered in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

in 1935, was welcomed by the ''

African Morning Post The ''African Morning Post'' () was a daily newspaper in Accra, Gold Coast, published by City Press Ltd. Editorial and Pub. Its editor-in-chief in 1934 was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who later also founded several newspapers in Nigeria, including the ''West ...

''.'Enthuastic Audience Hears Miss Zormelo: Erudite African lady expounds theory on education for a New Day to full Hall', ''African Morning Post'', 11 May 1935.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

disrupted Charity Zormelo's efforts to pursue study in the United States for a Masters in Education. She moved to teach at New African University College in

Anloga Anloga, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is a town in Anloga District of the Volta Region in southeast Ghana. It lies east of the Volta River and just south of the Keta Lagoon. Education * Anlo Senior High School * Keta ...

, and in 1942 married the college's founder and President, Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo. With her husband, other staff and students she toured southern Eweland - in both the Gold Coast and Togoland - with his play ''Toko Atolia''. Intending to return to the United States to continue study after the war, she died aged 41 on 14 October 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zormelo, Charity 1904 births 1945 deaths Hampton University alumni Ghanaian educators Ewe people