Having opened the National Training School for Women in Girls in Washington, D.C. in 1909, Nannie Helen Burroughs was integral to Black women getting job training and career opportunities, not only in the District but nationwide. Her critical contributions in the 20th century remain inspirational for students, activists, educators and labor workers to this day.
Housed in the same building of the educator and labor advocate’s former school in Northeast, D.C., The Monroe School, works to carry on Burrough’s legacy through offering high school students with training that will prepare them for college or careers. Ruth Logan, founder and CEO of The Monroe School said that for students, celebrating Burrough’s life and work is about more than just a building.
“The students know about the area and surroundings, but I’m fascinated with what they don’t know about Dr. Burroughs,” Logan told The Informer in 2020. “During Women’s History Month and Black History Month, Dr. Burroughs becomes one of the individuals [mentioned], researched and presented in projects. We’re keeping that legacy alive. We’re making sure students learn about what she brought to the city, and what she means to education at The Monroe School.”
Born in 1879 in Orange, Virginia, Burroughs was the child of a former enslaved couple. She later moved to Washington D.C. and was a noted scholar who graduated with honors from M Street High School (now Paul Laurence Dunbar High School), but was denied a position within the public school system.
Burroughs worked as a bookkeeper and editorial secretary for the National Baptist Convention (NBC). She rose through the ranks of the NBC and focused on gender equality within the church, later helping to found the Women’s Auxiliary of the organization.
The educator and freedom fighter was also active in the National Association of Colored Women, the National Association of Wage Earners, and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.
A fervent suffragist and advocate against lynching, Burroughs wrote about the need for Black and white women to work together to achieve the right to vote. She believed suffrage for African American women was crucial to protect their interests in an often discriminatory society.
In 1909, she led the charge to fund and establish the National Training School for Women and Girls, of which she was president until her death in 1961.
As founder, Burroughs fundraised for the school from grassroots donors and offered Black women an alternative to domestic work, as she fervently believed that Black women should have the opportunity for education and jobs training.
Giving back to young people was a crucial part of Burroughs advocacy and work.
In August 1954, Burroughs gave an opportunity to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., then 25, to speak before the National Baptist Convention.
“What [King’s] message did to their thinking and to their faith is ‘bread cast upon the water’ that will be seen day by day in their good works in their communities,” Burroughs said about King’s speech.
Continuing Burroughs Legacy in Washington, D.C., Nationwide
Burroughs’ life and legacy remains important to the District and nation, with landmarks, streets and institutions named in her honor.
In 1964, three years after her death, the school founded by the activist and educator was renamed in her honor as Nannie Helen Burroughs School. Completed in 1928, Trades Hall—which, according to the National Park Service, housed 12 classrooms, three offices, an assembly area and print shop—became a private elementary school until its closing in 2006.
While the school closed, The Monroe School continues Burroughs’ legacy. Further, Trades Hall is designated as a national historic landmark and houses the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC).
“We have been consistent in living out the dreams of our forefathers and foremothers as exemplified by the life and witness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nannie Helen Burroughs and those great heroes and sheroes of the civil and human rights movements throughout the Diaspora,” the Rev. Dr. Tyrone Pitts, who is now general secretary emeritus of PNBC, told The Informer in 2020.
In addition to the institutions in her honor, Washingtonians are reminded by the activist and educator’s legacy when on or near Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue in Northeast, D.C.’s Deanwood neighborhood.
More than 60 years since her death on May 20, 1961 at the age of 82, Burroughs is celebrated for her immense dedication to furthering opportunities for Black women in labor and justice overall.
“A lot of people endured a lot of hardship, humiliation, suffering and pain,” Burroughs once said. “The least I can do is be my best, live my best life, and treat myself and my surroundings with respect.”
