Basic Information

Mary Jane Patterson was born a free Black woman in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1844 (Bishir, 2018). In 1862, she became the first African American woman to formally earn a bachelor’s degree in the United States of America at Oberlin College. In 1869 she became one of the first teachers of the first public high school for African Americans in the United States of America and subsequently served as principal for a brief period beginning in 1871 during the school’s formative years (Garner, 2010).

Background Information

Mary Jane Patterson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1844 to parents Henry Patterson and Emeline Patterson. There are a few commonly spread mistruths about Mary Jane Patterson’s early life due to its relative obscurity. One is that she was born in 1840. Evidence points to the contrary, as census’ that include her list her birth date as either 1843 or 1844 and her death certificate states the year 1844. Another is that she was born into slavery, and her family were escaped slaves that found refuge in Ohio. This, based on evidence, has been proven false as well. Her father, Henry Patterson was a freeborn man who was an economically successful tradesman and landowner who purchased his wife’s freedom in roughly 1840-1841. In the 1850 United States census, the family are identified as free (Bishir, 2018). These incorrect statements were presumably historical assumptions that were stated as fact, and an example of this can be seen on the Electronic Oberlin Group’s website that depicts her image (Oberlin College Archives, 1862). Despite the Patterson’s economic success in Raleigh, North Carolina, the family decided to follow similarly minded African Americans who moved out of North Carolina to Oberlin, Ohio in 1856 (Bishir, 2018). The Patterson family likely made the decision to settle in Oberlin due to its unique scholarly opportunities for African Americans for the time. Oberlin College had accepted its first African American student in 1835 and became the first coed college in 1837 (Brown, 2017). In 1859 Mary Jane Patterson’s cousin, Louis Sheridan Leary husband of the daughter of Mary’s father’s brother, fought and died in John Brown’s Harper’s Ferry Raid (Bishir, 2018).

Contributions to the First Wave

Mary Jane Patterson’s contributions to the First Wave of feminism were of momentous import not just for women, but for African Americans as well. She was the first African American woman in the United States of America to formally earn a bachelor’s degree in 1862 at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio (Blakemore, 2017). She had initially begun her scholarly career at Oberlin in 1857 by taking preparatory classes (Brown, 2017), but instead of continuing with women’s courses she pursued a degree program that consisted of “Greek, Latin, and higher mathematics designed for ‘gentlemen’” (Sowell, 1974). She took classes alongside White men, and graduate in 1862 with high honors. After this massive accomplishment, she decided to spend her life as an educator to enrich the next generations. She initially took a job in Ohio briefly as a teacher, and successively had another teaching job in Virginia and then Philadelphia at the Institute of Colored Youth before becoming a teacher at the first public high school for African Americans in the United States of American in 1869 (Blakemore, 2017), the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, currently known as Dunbar High School, in Washington, D.C. (Rixon, 2010). Shortly after, in 1871, she became one of the first principals of the school, and its first Black principal. She held the position until 1872, where she was briefly replaced by a man for a year until she regained the position in 1873. She remained the school’s principal until 1884. At that point, the school had grown to the point where school leadership believed the institution had to be run by a man, and so she was removed from the position (Blakemore, 2017). Despite this, she remained at the school until she passed away on September 24^th, 1894 (Brown, 2017). Patterson, shortly before her passing, had also been directly involved with the founding of the Colored Women’s League of Washington D.C., with the aim of promoting “‘the education and improvement of colored women and…their interests'” (Evans, 2024).

Miss Patterson was held in high esteem by a large circle of friends and educators, and none will miss her more than the large number who have been aided by her in their struggle for advanced education. Miss Patterson not only interested herself in matters pertaining to the education of her race, but was foremost in all things tending to elevate them.

– Death of Miss Patterson, Evening Star, Washington D.C., September 25th, 1894

Analysis and Conclusion

In a time when it was difficult for women to gain access to higher education, and even more so Black people, what Mary Jane Patterson accomplished was incredibly significant. It was a sign that progress had occurred, with the opportunity she had at Oberlin College, as well as the continuing progress that she had a guiding hand in as an educator at Dunbar High School, that laid the groundwork for many Black scholars in future generations. Her achievements occurred despite widespread racism and misogyny in the latter half of the 19th century, as she fought fiercely to blaze a trail through roadblocks placed by oppressors. Her work throughout her life paved the way for other Black people, men and women, to have access to higher education and improve their stature. She was an educator and leader within educational institutions that provided excellent opportunities for Black students and she was directly involved with women’s rights activist groups that pushed to uplift and empower Black women through education and knowledge. Patterson’s work was immensely important to the first wave of feminism, as through her efforts she laid the groundwork for the following generation of Black women to acquire an education and reach new heights.

References

Bishir, C. W. (2018). Patterson, Henry J. (1805-1886) and John E. (1804-1880). North Carolina Architects and Builders. https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000659

Blakemore, E. (2017, May 23). How the daughter of a slave became the first African-American woman to earn a bachelor’s degree. TIME. https://time.com/4788672/mary-jane-patterson-history/

Brown, S. M. (2020, October 31). Black History Month: Remembering Mary Jane Patterson. The Washington Informer. https://www.washingtoninformer.com/black-history-month-remembering-mary-jane-patterson/

Evans, Q. (2024, March). The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Washington, DC: 1848-1973. DC.gov. https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/The%20Women%27s%20Suffrage%20Movement%20in%20Washington%2C%20DC_.pdf

Evening Star, Washington D.C. (1894, September 25). Death of Miss Patterson. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-mary-jane-patterson-death-1/89661390/

Garner, C. (2010, December 3). Mary Jane Patterson (1840-1894). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/patterson-mary-jane-1840-1894/

Oberlin College Archives. (1862). [Mary Jane Patterson]. Electronic Oberlin Group. https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/OYTT-images/MJPatterson.html

Rixon, K. (2010, December 07). Paul Laurence Dunbar high school (1870- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/paul-laurence-dunbar-high-school-1870/

Sowell, T. (1974). Black excellence — the case of Dunbar High School. The Public Interest, 7. https://www.nationalaffairs.com/storage/app/uploads/public/58e/1a4/ba6/58e1a4ba616e4230354245.pdf