| Biography | Nannie Helen Burroughs, (2 May 1878 20 May 1961) was an African-American educator, orator, religious leader, civil rights activist, feminist and businesswoman in the United States. She gained national recognition for her 1900 speech "How the Sisters Are Hindered from Helping," at the National Baptist Convention.
On 19 October 1909, she founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C., which uniquely provided academic, religious and vocational classes for black girls and young women at a time when education was segregated in the South; she operated it until her death. It has since been renamed the Nannie Helen Burroughs School in her honor and provides coeducational classes for the elementary grades. Its Trades Hall, built in 1927-28, has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. |