By: Dr. Phyllis Bivins-Hudson
I had the good fortune to be introduced to Anna Julia Cooper by way of a graduate class while attending Bread Loaf School of English in Middlebury, Vermont.
It was an exciting time for me in many ways, but especially when I began to learn about so many beautiful, intelligent, resilient Black women who had come before me. 
Although there were a number of these women introduced to all of us in those women’s literature classes, Dr. Cooper stood out for me. She was someone I learned to admire for her tenacity, her love for and pursuance of education, and the way she included others in the education process.
Sitting in those classes where my professor discussed Dr. Cooper made me feel extra proud because heretofore, I had not only never heard of her, but there were so many others whom I had not heard.
Learning about these women and studying them was like having a great glass of the best wine. They each were a dynamic collective of sharp minds whose intelligence made them the powerhouses of their day.
As a result, my love for Dr. Cooper put her in a special place for me. She struck me as a woman who in her book for instance, A Voice From the South by a Black Woman From the South, was showing off her talent—not in a gloating way, but remember, this was a woman who was born into slavery.
Yet even being enslaved did not hinder her growth and development. She was a brilliant thinker who stimulated me with insight just by reading about her and hearing about how she navigated her world. For instance, at the age of 11 years old, she was already serving in the role of scholarship teacher due to excelling in math and writing; a position that earned her a stipend of $100 a year (Episcopal Archives) at a time when that kind of money was very difficult to come by, especially if you were a Black person and even more difficult if you were a woman and a Black woman.
But as an advocate for women in particular but men too, she would always fight for the right of others to receive an education. Dr. Cooper was a visionary and although she came up against those who didn’t share some of her philosophies, especially around the fact that she felt Black women and men should pursue college rather than be relegated to subordinate positions in the workplace. (National Museum of African American History and Culture).
It was her persistence, her patience, and her love for learning, that kept her highly driven intellectually. Were it not for her self-advocacy, perhaps she would not have been able to attend some of the most prestigious universities in the world, including the Sorbonne University in Paris, the Guilde Internationale de Paris, Oberlin College, Columbia University, and more.
Dr. Cooper was responsible for others who had studied under her, attending Yale, Mount Holyoke, Brown, and Harvard. Dr. Anna Julia Cooper did a lot of living in her time on Earth. She was born into slavery but lived a life well worth living.
She passed away at age 105, just 5 months before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, a bill that was the result of a long Senate debate that began in the month of her death.
Dr. Cooper not only inspired others, me included, but she was an inspiration to many who knew her as they watched her challenge the status quo with her intelligence and her progressive way of thinking about education, especially for girls during a time when it was not popular for girls to be educated.
She stated in her book, A Woman From the South, “[G]ive the girls a chance!... Let our girls feel that we expect more from them than that they merely look pretty and appear well in society.
Teach them that there is a race with special needs which they and only they can help; that the world needs and is already asking for their trained, efficient forces,” (Cooper 1892). Dr. Cooper was a legend in her own time. She has challenged us all to embrace her legacy, as she has left her mark in many places.
For instance, a quote written by her, which still stands today as the only quote written on the U.S. passport by a woman, reads: "The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity."
Dr. Cooper has also received the honor of being on a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp. Further, at least two schools are bearing her name, one is a middle school and the other is a center at a university, both named in her honor. 
Dr. Anna Julia Cooper’s legacy will live in our culture for years to come and because of that fact and who she was, her work and her life have carved a space for many African American women who stand on her shoulders as educators and students alike.
Dr. Anna Julia Cooper—an accomplished professional who committed her life to her intellectual growth as well as her mentorship to those within her community. Dr. Cooper, I salute you this Women’s History Month.