Anita Florence Hemmings (June 8, 1872 – 1960) was known as the first African American woman to graduate from Vassar College.[1] As she was of both African and European ancestry, she passed as white for socioeconomic benefits. After graduation, Hemmings became a librarian at the Boston Public Library.
Personal life
Anita Hemmings was born June 8, 1872, in Boston. Her parents were Dora Logan (maiden; 1856–1941) and Robert Williamson Hemmings, Sr. (1843–1908). Anita was raised as an Episcopalian.
Siblings
Frederick John Hemmings (né Frederic Henderson Hemmings; 1873–1956), earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from MIT in 1897.[2]
Elizabeth "Libby" N. Hemings (born 1876), married Walter Gilbert Alexander, MD (1880–1953), on May 3, 1904, in Boston. They later divorced.
Robert Williamson Hemmings, Jr. (born 1882), studied art and in 1903 won a bronze medal and scholarship from the Eric Pape School of Art for a black-and-white sketch. He had graduated June 26, 1899, from the Sherwin School, a high school for African Americans in Roxbury.[3]
Husband
Anita married Andrew Jackson Love (1861–1948), on October 20, 1903, at Trinity Church in Boston. Their marriage license indicates their race as African American.
Like some other black Americans of mixed ancestry, both Hemmings and her husband passed as white as adults for socioeconomic benefit. They did not inform their children of their biracial ancestry.[8][6][9]
Children
Ellen Parker Love (1905–1995), a 1927 graduate of Vassar. On June 6, 1934, in Manhattan, she married Charles Beckinton Atkin (1906–1987).
Barbara Hope Love (1907–2007). On June 9, 1930, in Manhattan, she married William Adair Hurt (1907–1965). They later divorced.
Andrew Jackson Love, Jr. (1911–1982), jazz musician. He attended the Horace Mann School until around 1937, then transferred to the Mount Herman School in Northfield, Massachusetts, graduating around 1930.[10] He studied pre-med at the University of Wisconsin for two years (1930 and 1931), then devoted himself to music and became an acclaimed jazz vocalist. He was a founder of the jazz trio, the Tune Twisters. Around 1939, the trio recorded a nationally popular jingle for Pepsi; this was an innovation in broadcast advertising considered one of the first of its kind.
Secondary and higher education
Hemmings attended preparation school at Girls' High School in Boston and Northfield, where she had been roommates with Elizabeth Baker (maiden; 1868–1943), who, on September 23, 1896, married William Henry Lewis (1868–1949).
Fulfilling a childhood dream,[11] Hemmings attended Vassar, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. Based on her appearance and visible European ancestry, she was apparently assumed to be white. About the time she graduated, a Boston newspaper reported that Fred J. Hemmings, an African American, had graduated from MIT, and he had a sister at Vassar. Her story came out.
Later, rumors circulated that she should have been valedictorian, but they were false. Some said that Hemmings was the most attractive woman in her class. Classmates believed that she may have had 'Indian blood', as she was darker skinned than some girls and had straight black hair. She sang soprano in the glee club and was the featured soloist at the local churches in Poughkeepsie.[12]
In 1997, Vassar African-American studies students petitioned college president Frances D. Fergusson to recognize Hemmings at that year's centennial celebration. Writing about it in Vassar Quarterly, Olivia Mancini, a local journalist, said this recognition "brought [Hemmings’] graduation and presence to a level of honor that it should have had a hundred years ago." Vassar has acknowledged Anita Hemmings as the first African American to graduate the college, and noted that for almost all of her college career, she was thought to be white.
In popular culture
In November 2017, it was announced that Zendaya will produce and star in a biopic of Hemmings' life titled A White Lie, based on the 2016 novel The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe. This explores Hemmings' life in a fictional way.[11]Reese Witherspoon will also produce the project and Monica Beletsky will write the script. TriStar Pictures will distribute the film.
^"Dark, But Beautiful: Colored Girl Went Through Exclusive Vassar College – Her Secret Not Guessed Until After Graduation, and She Got Her Diploma – She Hailed From Boston," Boston Globe, Vol. 52, No. 47. August 16, 1897, p. 1 (accessible viaNewspapers.com, subscription required)
Note: The offensive tenor of the headline ("Black, But Beautiful ... ") and vernacular of article is a noteworthy window into the bigotry of journalism of the era, and white society itself. The Boston Globe was a major voice in North America; i.e., one that reflected perceived social norms, and one of myriad possible seemingly authoritative influences that showered Ms. Hemmings. The author likely thought that they were generously lauding Ms. Hemmings for possessing (i) beauty deemed, in the day, as exceptional by whites and (ii) the upbringing, academic preparation, and intellectual tenacity to excel in an exclusive institution of higher education – something that was rare, especially for women. The bigotry exhibited in the article perhaps highlights the trickiness of values and aspirations harbored by Ms. Hemmings in the face of polar trade-offs – especially given that attending Vassar College had been a childhood dream, a dream elevated into reality with encouragement from another influential woman.(because this Boston Globe citation overtly supports the prior statement, perhaps no citation is needed: Sep 2019)
^Against all Odds: The Legacy of Students of African Descent at Harvard Medical School Before Affirmative Action, 1850–1968, by Nora Nouritza Nercessian, "African-American Health Community in Boston in the Early 20th Century," Appendix C: "Postgraduate Students of African Descent at Harvard Medical School 1873–1968" Harvard Medical School, publisher, 2004, pps. 280 & 287; OCLC645834943 )
^Sim, Jillian A. (née Jillian Clare Atkin; born 1969) (March 1999). "Fading To White". American Heritage. Vol. 50, no. 1. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2015.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ ab"Hiding from One's True Self" (book review of The Gilded Age), by Terri Schlichenmeyer, Washington Informer, July 14, 2016 (accessible viaProQuest1806088789, subscription required)
