Alberta Virginia Scott Explained

Alberta Virginia Scott (c. 1875 — August 30, 1902) was an American educator. She was the first African-American graduate of Radcliffe College, in 1898.

Early life

Alberta Virginia Scott was born near Richmond, Virginia. Her mother worked as a cook.[1] She raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her family moved when she was six years old. Her family were members of the historic Union Baptist Church in Cambridge.[2] Scott attended Allston School (finishing in 1889)[3] and then Cambridge Latin School, graduating with the class of 1894.[4]

In 1898, Alberta Virginia Scott became the first African-American graduate of Radcliffe College.[5] [6]

Career

Alberta Scott planned for a career in teaching.[7] She taught in Indianapolis and, briefly, at Tuskegee Institute after graduating from Radcliffe.[8]

Death and legacy

Alberta Scott died in 1902, in Cambridge, aged 26 years after a 16 month illness attributed to overwork and grief after the loss of her father.[9] "Her death cuts off what should have been a useful and creditable life of work among those of her race," concluded an obituary in a Cambridge newspaper.

There is a placard about Alberta V. Scott in Cambridge, placed by the Cambridge African American History Project in 1993.[10] The Association of Black Harvard Women (ABHW) offers an Alberta V. Scott Mentorship Program, named in her honor.[11]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8722790/harvards_negro_graduate_1898/ "Harvard's Negro Graduate"
  2. http://www.ubccambridge.org/about-us/church-history/ Church History
  3. http://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/cambridge?a=d&d=Press18890629-01.2.24&srpos=30&e=-------en-20--21--txt-txIN-Alberta+Scott----- "Our Public Schools"
  4. http://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/cambridge?a=d&d=Tribune18940630-01.2.29&srpos=8&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Alberta+Scott-----# "The Valedictory"
  5. https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library/item/alberta-virginia-scott "Alberta Virginia Scott, Class of 1898"
  6. Kris Snibbe, "A Window into African-American History" Harvard Gazette (February 4, 2011).
  7. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8722698/alberta_v_scott_1898/ "Colored Graduate"
  8. http://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/cambridge?a=d&d=Chronicle19020906-01.2.75&srpos=60&e=-------en-20--41--txt-txIN-Alberta+Scott-----# "Colored Teacher Dead"
  9. http://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/cambridge?a=d&d=Tribune19020906-01.2.61&srpos=2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Alberta+Scott-----# "Deaths"
  10. Cambridge Office of Tourism, Alberta V. Scott placard.
  11. http://blackharvardwomen.wixsite.com/abhw/about Association of Black Harvard Women