Nannie Helen Burroughs, was an African-American educator, orator, religious leader, and business woman. Her parents were John and Jennie Burroughs. They were both ex-slaves. Her father was a farmer and Baptist preacher, her mother was a cook. Nannie moved to Washington, D.C., as a young woman to take advantage of the city's superior educational opportunities. While living in Washington she decided to open a school for African American girls to prepare them for a productive adult life. She was an active member of her church, where she organized a women's club that conducted evening classes in useful skills such as typewriting, bookkeeping, cooking, and sewing. Her responsibilities within the church increased when she became secretary of the Women's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention, which supported missionary work and educational societies in Baptist churches throughout the nation. Burroughs's lifelong dream was realized when she opened the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C., in 1909. In 1975, Mayor Walter E. Washington proclaimed May 10 to be Nannie Helen Burroughs Day in the District of Columbia.
Nannie Helen Burroughs, was an African-American educator, orator, religious leader, and business woman. Her parents were John and Jennie Burroughs. They were both ex-slaves. Her father was a farmer and Baptist preacher, her mother was a cook. Nannie moved to Washington, D.C., as a young woman to take advantage of the city's superior educational opportunities. While living in Washington she decided to open a school for African American girls to prepare them for a productive adult life. She was an active member of her church, where she organized a women's club that conducted evening classes in useful skills such as typewriting, bookkeeping, cooking, and sewing. Her responsibilities within the church increased when she became secretary of the Women's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention, which supported missionary work and educational societies in Baptist churches throughout the nation. Burroughs's lifelong dream was realized when she opened the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C., in 1909. In 1975, Mayor Walter E. Washington proclaimed May 10 to be Nannie Helen Burroughs Day in the District of Columbia.
Inscription
Founder and President of
the National Trade and Professional School 1909-1961
President of Woman's Auxiliary of the Nat'l Baptist Convention, USA 1948-1961
She walked in the beauty of love.
