“A Monument to Negro Womanhood:” The Women of the National Training School for Women and Girls, 1879-1961

Abstract

This thesis is an institutional history of the National Training School for Women and Girls (NTS), a non-denominational Christian school operated by race woman, Nannie Helen Burroughs, in Washington, D.C from 1909-1961. The school was unique for its self-help philosophy, primary funding by African Americans, and devotion to black women’s education. The school trained black women and girls in domestic science, clerical work, and missionary service at a time when few schools accepted black girls, let alone designed curriculum for their academic and professional needs. This thesis uses the writings and speeches of Nannie Helen Burroughs, teachers’ notes, curriculum, school catalogs, and other NTS memorabilia to prove that NTS students and staff deserve greater attention in NTS histories because they inspired the school’s mission to offer vocational training to dignify black women’s work, labored and fundraised to support the school and themselves during their attendance, and were trained to be the living, breathing answers to the social problems facing black women. Burroughs, students and staff were all essential to economize donations, operate campus businesses, and provide labor to maintain campus facilities, food supplies, and basic necessities. While Nannie Helen Burroughs was the master fundraiser behind the NTS, the women and girls of the NTS were the engine powering Burroughs’s plan to sustain the school, build a positive image for black women and the school, and solve the social problems facing black people, women, and the church.