Josephine Silone Yates | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1852 or November 15, 1859 Mattituck, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 3, 1912 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Rhode Island State Normal School, later named Rhode Island College, Rhode Island |
| Known for | The first Black woman to head a college science department and the first Black woman to hold a full professorship at any U.S. college or university |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry, education |
| Institutions | Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri |
Josephine Silone Yates | |
|---|---|
| Pen name | Mrs. R. K. Potter |
| Occupation | Magazine correspondent and active member of the African American women's club movement |
| Period | 1880s-1906 |
| Subject | racial uplift, poetry, women's issues |
Josephine Silone Yates (1852 or November 15, 1859 – September 3, 1912) was an American professor, writer, public speaker, and activist. She trained in chemistry and became one of the first black professors hired at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Upon her promotion, she became the first black woman to head a college science department.[1][2] She may have been the first black woman to hold a full professorship at any U.S. college or university.[3]
Yates also made significant contributions to journalism (sometimes under the pseudonym Mrs. R. K. Potter) and the overall social mobility of black women. For example, she was a correspondent for the Woman's Era (the first monthly magazine published by black women in the United States). She wrote for other newspapers and magazines, as well, including Omaha, Nebraska's Enterprise.[4]
Yates was a major figure in the African-American women's club movement and was instrumental in establishing women's clubs for African-American women because she helped found and was the first president of the Kansas City Colored Women's League (1893), and was the second president of the National Association of Colored Women (1900–04).[1]
- ^ a b Brown, Jeannette E. (2012). African American Women Chemists. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199742882.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Christensenwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kremer, Gary R.; Mackey, Cindy M. (1996). "'Yours for the Race': The Life and Work of Josephine Silone Yates". Missouri Historical Review. 90 (2): 199–215.
- ^ "Education. Lucinda Gamble, Editor. Editorial." Enterprise (Omaha, Nebraska), April 4, 1896: 2. Readex: African American Newspapers.