Fannie E. Motley facts for kids
Fannie Ernestine Motley (born January 25, 1927, died May 8, 2016) was a very important person in American history. She was the first African-American student to graduate from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. This college was run by a group called the Jesuits. She started going to Spring Hill College in 1954.
Her Amazing Journey
Fannie Ernestine Motley grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. She started college soon after a big court decision in 1954 called Brown v. Board of Education. This decision said that separate schools for black and white students were not fair.
Years before George Wallace tried to stop black students from entering the University of Alabama, Fannie Motley made history. She became the first black student to graduate from Spring Hill College in 1956. This was a huge step for equality. Important newspapers and magazines like The New York Times, Jet, and Time wrote about her achievement.
In 1963, Mrs. Motley moved to Cincinnati with her husband, D. L. Motley Sr. He was a pastor at Peace Baptist Church. Fannie Motley taught in the Cincinnati Public School system for 24 years. In 1969, she earned a master's degree in guidance counseling from Xavier University.
She had a special chair in her living room. A sign on it said, "Martin Luther King Jr. sat in this chair at our house, October 10, 1964." This shows how important her family was in the Civil Rights Movement.
Today, there is a scholarship created in her name at Spring Hill College. This helps other students follow in her footsteps.
Her Family and Legacy
Fannie Motley's husband was D. L. Motley Sr., a pastor. They had two sons who also became pastors. One lives in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and the other in Atlanta, Georgia.
After her husband passed away in 2001, she moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana. Fannie Motley died on Mother's Day in 2016 in Fairburn, Georgia. She was buried at Vine Street Hill Cemetery in Cincinnati. Her brother, the Rev. Nelson "Fireball" Smith, was also a minister and a civil rights activist.
