Women Builders
Lucy Craft Laney
Lucy Craft Laney (1854–1933) was born a slave in Macon,
Georgia. She enrolled in college at the age of fifteen and after graduation
began teaching in the public schools of Savannah, Georgia. After reading
a newspaper article declaring that African American women were not
fit to nurse or care for white children, Laney decided to devote her life
to training and educating African-Americans. In 1886, Laney opened a school
in the basement of a church in Augusta, Georgia. The tiny school grew to
become the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute, which was dedicated to
preparing young African Americans to enter college.
Be sure to visit the Web site of the Lucy Craft Laney Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to see
how Laney's contribution to education lives on today.
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