Today In History: Marion Vera Cuthbert Is Born

On March 15th, 1896 Marion Vera Cuthbert was born in St Paul, Minnesota. After receiving her BA from Boston University in 1920, Cuthbert served as Principal of  School and then Dean of Women at Talladega College, Alabama's oldest private and historically black liberal arts college. She pursued a Masters and      Doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University; her PhD, Education and Marginality: A  Study Of the Negro Woman College Student (1942), prepared her for more leadership roles; she became the first Afro-American woman to serve as Dean at Brooklyn College. She was also instrumental in creating the National Association of College Women and as active in the National Board of the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) and the NAACP (National Association of Colored Persons). Marion Vera Cuthbert devoted her life to not only helping black women in higher education, but also fighting discrimination. 

 A gifted poet and and essayist, Cuthbert also contributed to the flowering of writing during the Harlem  Renaissance; she published a number of significant works, among  them: We Sing America (New York: Friendship Press, 1936); Juliette Derricotte (New York: The Womans Press, 1933), Songs of Creation (New York:    The Womans Press, 1949), April Grasses (New York: The Womans Press, 1936), and Democracy and the Negro (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1936).

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Marion Cuthbert Given Y.W. Post. (1932, May 24). Atlanta Daily World (1932-2003)

• Leadership Division Led By Miss Marion Cuthbert. (1932, May 28). The Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967)

• Speaks To "Y" Youth: Miss Marion Cuthbert Active In Confab. (1936, Oct 10). The New York Amsterdam News (1922-1938)

• Marion Cuthbert Praises Virginia Women On Visit. (1938, May 14). New Journal and Guide (1916-2003)

• Rosenwald Awards Made To 68 Students: Forty Negroes Among Those Getting $1,500 Fellowships. (1940, Apr 30). New York Times (1923-Current File)

• Rosenwald Fund Announces Sixty-Eight Fellowships: Variety Of Fields Are To Be Covered. (1940, May 01). Atlanta Daily World (1932-2003)

• Article 8 -- No Title (1944, Sep 26). New York Times (1923-Current File)

• Dier, R. (1944, Oct 07). Dr. Cuthbert Likes New Job As Brooklyn College Teacher. Afro-American (1893-1988)

• Joins Brooklyn College Staff: Marion Cuthbert To Teach Sociology. (1944, Sep 26). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962)

• Schalk, T. (1944, Oct 07). Toki Types: About People Here and There a Sergeant Writes.. The Pittsburgh Courier (1911-1950)

Tips:

• Cuthbert, Marion Vera. Education and Marginality: A Study Of the Negro Woman College Student. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, c1942 (Ph'D).

• Cuthbert, Marion Vera. Education and Marginality: A Study Of the Negro Woman College Student. New York: Garland, 1987, c1942.

Images:

• Digital Motif Paper, 222, Courtesy of PublicDomainPicture.net
• Title Page, We Sing America, by Marion Cuthbert, Courtesy of New York Public Library Digital Collections

• Special News Slide, Courtesy of the Gottesman Libraries

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Note: This blog is updated and republished from Learning at the Library, March 15th, 2021.