The Women of Tuskegee University
By: Tayler Salter
April 31, 2012
Tuskegee University
Archives
Fannie N. Smith
Wife of Booker T. Washington
•Born in 1858 in Malden, West
Virginia
•She was a graduate of Hampton
Institute
• She was the first wife of Booker T.
Washington, they were married in
1882
•During her marriage to Booker T.
Washington one child was born by
the name of Portia Washington
•She passed away May 4, 1882, only
two years after she married
Washington.
Olivia Davidson
Washington
Wife of Booker T. Washington
•Olivia Davidson was the daughter of a ex-slave
father and a freeborn mother
•She was the 7th of 10 children
•Davidson began teaching at the age of 16 in Ohio
•When she turned 18 she moved to Mississippi to
teach the recently freed African American
population
•She believed that African American girls were the
“hope of the race”
•After teaching she enrolled herself in Hampton
Normal A&I in 1878
•While at her commencement she met Booker T.
Washington, he was one of the speakers at the
graduation.
•Davidson and Washington were married in
August of 1886
•During their marriage they had two children,
Booker Jr. and Ernest
•At Tuskegee she served as a teacher curriculum
specialist , principal, and fund- raiser
•She passed away on May 9, 1889
Margaret Murray Washington
Wife of Booker T. Washington
•Margaret Murray Washington was born March 9, 1865;
she was one of ten children
•Margaret Murray was of Irish and African American
descent
•She was a graduate of Fisk University class of 1889
•Soon after her tenure at Fisk she was given the
opportunity to become “Lady Principal” at Tuskegee
Institute
•While serving as “Lady Principal” she met Booker T.
Washington and they were married in 1892
•Murray was responsible for writing many of Washington’s
speeches ass well as accompanying him on tours
•She served on Tuskegee’s executive board and became
dean of women
•In February of 1892 she began a program that provided
child care, education and training in literacy, home care,
and hygiene called “mother’s meetings”
•In 1896 she was elected president of the National
Federation of Afro American Women, she then helped
merge the NFAW with the Colored Women’s League to
form the National Association of Colored Women
•Margaret Murray Washington died June 4, 1925 her
death was grieved across the nation, she was
remembered as one who instilled hope in African
American Women.
Elizabeth Hunt Harris
Wife of Robert Russa Moton
•Elizabaeth Hunt Harris was married
to Robert Russa Moton in 1905.
•Sadly only a year after she was
married she passed away in 1906
Picture Not Available
Jennie Dee Booth
Wife of Robert Russa Moton
•Jennie Dee Booth was born February 26,
1880 in Gloucester County, VA.
•In 1908 she wed Robert Russa Moton
•She became the director for Department
of Women’s Industries in Tuskegee
Institute, Alabama. She served from 19241935
•She was a field officer for the Agricultural
Adjustment Administration
•She was very active in women’s rights,
from the years of 1937-1941 she was the
president of the National Association of
Colored Women
•Jennie Dee Booth had five children in her
lifetime: Catherine Elizabeth, Charlotte
Ellen, Robert Russa Jr. Allen Washington,
and Jennie Dee.
Catherine Elizabeth Moton
Wife of Frederick D. Patterson
•Catherine Elizabeth Moton was born
in 1909.
•She was the daughter of the second
president of Tuskegee Institute
Robert Russa Moton; they were
married on June 12, 1935 in
Capahosic, Virginia
Vera Chandler Foster
Wife of Luther H. Foster
•Vera Chandler Foster was born in
Indianola, Mississippi
•She is a graduate of Fisk University, and
a member of Phi Beta Kappa
•Vera Chandler Foster was very involved
with social welfare, she served on the
national boards of the YWCA, Common
Cause and Planned Parenthood
•While her husband served as the
president of Tuskegee University Vera
worked at the VA hospital in Tuskegee
• She served as a field instructor in social
work at Atlanta University, Florida State
University, University of Michigan, and
the University of Alabama.
Thelma Plane
Wife of Benjamin Payton
•Thelma Plane Payton is a native of
Evanston Illinois.
•She received her undergraduate
degree from Tennessee State
University.
•Upon completion of her
undergraduate degree she received
her masters degree in psychiatric
social work from Columbia University.
Patricia Saul
Wife of Gilbert L. Rochon
•Patricia Saul Rochon is a very
accomplished woman, she serves as
the clinical assistant professor of digital
media at Purdue University.
•Patricia Saul is a devout member of
the Catholic Church.
•Saul is a graduate of Xavier University
located in New Orleans, Louisiana.
•She received her master’s degree
from Yale University
•She is also the the executive producer
of Fast Track & Fast Track Te Informa
•She has a deep love of the arts and
hopes to bring a fine arts programs to
Tuskegee University.
•Patricia Saul and Gilbert Rochon have
two children: Hildred Sarah Rochon
and Emile Saul Rochon
References
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Espiritu, A. "Washington, Margaret Murray (1865-1925)."www.blackpast.org.
University of Washington, 2007. Web. 19 Apr 2012.
<http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/washington-margaret-murray-1865-1925>.
Spangler , M. "The Moton Family A Register of Its Papers in the Library of
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<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/uploaded_pdf/ead_pdf_b
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University Archives, 2011. Web. 20 Apr 2012.
<http://192.203.127.197/archive/bitstream/handle/123456789/661/Patterson
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"http://www.Tuskegee.edu." Legacy of Leadership. Tuskegee University, 2011. Web. 20 Apr 2012.
<http://www.tuskegee.edu/about_us/legacy_of_leadership.asp&xgt;.