Otelia Cromwell

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Otelia Cromwell (April 8, 1874 - April 25, 1972) is the first African-American graduate of Smith College. The college later began the tradition of canceling afternoon and evening classes in her honor every November as a venue to talk about race and diversity.

Cromwell went on to become an educator, teaching in a public school in Washington D.C. She eventually earned a master's degree from Columbia University in New York City, then went to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and received her Ph.D in 1926. In doing, so she was the first African-American woman to receive a Yale degree.

Cromwell went on to became a professor at Miner Teachers College, later heading the literature department. She wrote a variety of books and articles, including a biography of Lucretia Mott. Cromwell retired in 1944.