No. 50: Nannie Helen Burroughs

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One woman once dared to tell Black men and women alike that they weren’t dreaming big enough. This woman was Nannie Helen Burroughs! She didn’t just talk about changing the world—she built an entire institution to do just that!

Welcome back to 100 Historic Black Women You Should Know By Election Day. I’m Shae, a PhD Candidate at Harvard, and I’m here to ensure that black women are no longer treated like footnotes throughout history. Today, we're diving into the life of the incomparable Nannie Helen Burroughs.

Nannie Helen Burroughs was a visionary educator, activist, and leader who believed in the transformative power of education, especially for Black women. Born in 1879 in Virginia to formerly enslaved parents, Burroughs knew firsthand how vital education and work opportunities were for economic independence.

In 1909, she founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C. The school wasn’t just about textbooks and exams; it was designed to teach Black women both vocational skills, like stenography and domestic work, and academic subjects, such as literature and history. But Burroughs didn’t stop there. She incorporated classes on entrepreneurship and political education, emphasizing self-reliance, dignity, and leadership. Her school was a safe haven where Black women could escape the limitations of their time and be groomed to rise above them.

Burroughs also understood the importance of labor rights and the value of women's work, a passion that fueled her leadership in the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). As a prominent member of the NACW, she fought for better labor conditions, equal pay, and opportunities for Black women, who were often relegated to the most dehumanizing jobs. Burroughs believed that without economic independence, true freedom was impossible. Her work with the NACW pushed for better wages and working conditions for domestic workers, and she was a leading voice for the dignity of labor.

With her school and activism, Burroughs didn’t just want to create better workers; she wanted to create future leaders. Her belief in the transformative power of education was so profound that she once said, “We specialize in the wholly impossible,” highlighting her relentless ambition for herself and the women she mentored.

Here’s something interesting: Nannie Helen Burroughs wrote the following in the August 1915 edition of the NAACP publication, The Crisis:

"The ballot, wisely used, will bring to her [the African-American woman] the respect and protection that she needs...She needs the ballot to reckon with men who place no value upon her virtue, and to mould healthy public sentiment in favor of her own protection." Source

If you’re as inspired by Nannie Helen Burroughs’ tenacity as I am, make sure to follow this podcast and give it 5 stars so more people can discover these incredible stories. You can also find me on social media @ShaeTheHistorian and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more content celebrating historic Black women. Let’s keep these legacies alive, one story at a time.