Addie W. Hunton

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1866, Addie Waites Hunton became the first Black woman to graduate from Spencerian College of Commerce in Cleveland in 1889. She taught for years in the South, including at institutions that later became part of Virginia State University and Alabama State University, before expanding her work into national reform and civil-rights organizing.

Hunton became a leading figure in organizations such as the Young Women's Christian Association and the National Association of Colored Women, where she pushed for better opportunities and stronger support for Black women and girls. During World War I, she served in France with the YMCA, helping support Black soldiers; she later wrote about that experience in Two Colored Women with the American Expeditionary Forces.

In later years, she also worked with the NAACP and remained active in campaigns for voting rights, anti-lynching efforts, and international Black activism. Remembered as a thoughtful writer and determined organizer, she helped build bridges between education, community work, and political change.