First commencement, 1911
*On this date in 1911, the first Commencement Exercise for the National Training School for Women and Girls occurred.
This was one of the earliest vocational educational institutions for Black women. It was started by Nannie Helen Burroughs in Lincoln Heights, Washington, D.C., an educator, public speaker, and churchwoman who ardently followed Booker T. Washington's philosophy. In 1909, she established a school for girls in the District of Columbia to provide women with vocational and missionary training.
She stated that in addition to the three R's—reading, writing, and arithmetic—these young women needed the three B's—the Bible, the bath, and the broom. Burroughs often battled men within her denomination about the ownership and administration of her school.
