Hortense Parker Gilliam, born Hortense Parker (1859–1938), was the first known African-American graduate of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, in 1883. She taught music and piano at elementary school in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

from 1906 to 1913. That year she married James Marcus Gilliam, and moved with him to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, where she taught music and lived the rest of her life.

Early life and education

Hortense Parker was the fourth of six children born to the

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...

John Parker and Miranda Parker in

Ripley, Ohio Ripley is a village in Union Township, Brown County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 50 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 1,591 at the 2020 census. History Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American Revolution, a ...

. She had three older brothers and two sisters. Her mother was freeborn in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Born into slavery, her father had bought his freedom and became a noted

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. Before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he aided hundreds of slaves to escape by the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

."Hortense Parker"
Ohio History Central, accessed 5 February 2011 Her parents' house has been designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

and restored, now called the John P. Parker House after her father. The Parkers ensured that all their children became well educated. Hortense Parker and her two younger sisters studied music as children, in addition to traditional subjects. Hortense went to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), where she graduated in 1883, the first known African-American graduate."Hortense Parker"
, ''Our Path: Students of Color at Mt. Holyoke'' exhibit, Alumnae & Student Conference, 2007, Mount Holyoke College, accessed 5 February 2011

Career

She worked in several cities teaching music, among them

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, where Parker taught from 1906 to 1913 at Lincoln School (later W.W. Yates).John Parker, ''Hortense Parker Gilliam''
1905, Local History book, Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Library

Marriage and family

In 1913 Parker married James Marcus Gilliam, a graduate of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

.Photograph of Hortense Parker Gilliam and her husband, 1932
Archival Digital Image Database, Mount Holyoke College, accessed 5 February 2011 They moved to St. Louis, where her brother Horatio Parker was living.John P. Parker, ''HIS PROMISED LAND: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN P. PARKER, FORMER SLAVE AND CONDUCTOR ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD''
Edited by Stuart Seely Sprague, New York: Norton, 1996, pp. 11-12, 83, accessed 5 February 2011 There Gilliam served as a principal for most of his career. Parker Gilliam taught music for many years. She died on December 9, 1938.

Legacy and honors

*As the first African-American graduate of Mt. Holyoke, Parker Gilliam was featured in ''Our Path: Students of Color at Mt. Holyoke'' at the 2007 Alumnae Student Conference there.

References

External links

Photograph of Mount Holyoke students c. 1883, including Hortense Parker
Mt. Holyoke College
Photograph of Hortense Parker Gilliam and her husband James Marcus Gilliam, 1932
Archival Digital Image Database, Mt. Holyoke College {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Hortense Mount Holyoke College alumni African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Missouri American women educators 1859 births 1938 deaths People from Ripley, Ohio 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women