Mastodawn

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco

Born 2 decades before women could vote, Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was a fighter. She was the FIRST Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in America; the FIRST Black-American to receive a Ph.D. in Economics from UPenn; the FIRST Black woman to enroll & earn a law degree from UPenn; the FIRST Black woman admitted to PA bar; & the FIRST woman to hold national office in the National Bar Association.

1/15

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History
 @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, born in Philadelphia on January 2, 1898, emerged from a rich legacy. Her grandfather, Benjamin Tucker Tanner, was bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, editor of the Christian Recorder & editor of the AME Church Review. Her aunt, Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson, was the first Black woman licensed to practice medicine in AL & established Tuskegee Institute’s Nurses’ School & Hospital.

2/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Sadie Alexander’s uncle was Lewis Baxter Moore, Dean of Howard University. Her father, Aaron Albert Mossell, was the first Black-American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1888. Her uncle, Nathan Francis Mossell, was the first African-American physician to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and co-founded the Frederick Douglass Hospital in 1895 (now Mercy-Douglass Hospital).

3/14

#Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Sadie's father, Aaron Mossell (1863-1951), worked as an attorney but unfortunately left his wife, Mary, and their two daughters just a year after Sadie's birth. Due to her mother's struggles with depression, Mary Mossell frequently traveled to Washington, D.C., where relatives took care of the girls. As a result, Sadie spent her childhood moving between Philadelphia and Washington D.C., residing with her mother and older siblings.

4/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Although she earned a scholarship to Howard University, Sadie Alexander was directed by her mother to attend the University of Pennsylvania School of Education instead, entering in the fall of 1915. There she struggled with discrimination from students and professors. In 1918, she graduated with honors with a B.S. in education but at the time was denied election into Phi Beta Kappa.

5/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Sadie Alexander continued her academic pursuits, receiving a master's in economics the following year. Awarded the Francis Sergeant Pepper fellowship, she went on to become the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States. Of this experience, Alexander said

“I can well remember marching down Broad Street from Mercantile Hall to the Academy of Music where there were photographers from all over the world taking my picture.”

6/14

#StillWeRise
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

She continued her studies at the Wharton School earning an M.A. & Ph.D. in economics, becoming the first black woman in the U.S. to earn the degree. Unable to find work as a Black woman, she was hired by the black-owned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1921 & stayed there until 1923 when she returned to Philadelphia to marry Raymond Pace Alexander (1897-1974), an attorney. They had two daughters, Mary and Rae.

8/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Before entering law school, Alexander served as the first national president of the black women’s sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, from 1919 to 1923. In 1924, she became the first black woman enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. She graduated with honors in 1927 and was the first black woman to gain admission into the Pennsylvania bar. Alexander was the first African American to hold both a Ph.D. and a J.D.

9/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Sadie Alexander joined her husband’s law firm, making them one of the earliest husband and wife legal teams in the country. She began working on cases in the Orphans’ Court and later advocated against racial discrimination, segregation, and employment inequality. For thirty-two years, Alexander worked with her husband, specializing in family and estate law. In addition to practicing law.

10/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

From 1928 to 1930 and again from 1934 to 1938, she was Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia and formed a legal aid bureau to assist African Americans who could not afford lawyers. She also served as secretary for the National Urban League from 1930 to 1957 and was appointed by U.S. President Harry Truman to serve on his Committee on Human Rights in 1947

11/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

The Alexanders were active participants in the Civil Rights Movementand practiced civil rights law. In this position, Sadie helped to develop the concept of a national civil rights policy when she co-authored the report, "To Secure These Rights." In the report, Sadie argues that Americans—regardless of gender or race—should be granted the opportunity to improve themselves and in doing so, strengthen the United States.

12/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Later, Sadie served on the Commission on Human Relations of the City of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1958. In 1959, when her husband was appointed as a judge to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, Sadie continued to practice law until her retirement in 1982. She died in 1989 in Philadelphia.

13/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 1, 2023

Resources

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/song-sadie-alexander-penn-alumna-great-esteem

https://www.biography.com/activists/sadie-alexander

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/alexander-sadie-tanner-mossell-1898-1989/

https://www.sadiecollective.org/stma

https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/stories/sadie-tanner-mossell-alexander

https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/distinguished-fellows/sadie-alexander

https://www.deltasigmatheta.org/past-national-president-sadie-t-m-alexander-recognized-as-an-american-economic-association-distinguished-fellow/

Books

Kenneth W. Mack, Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer, 2012.

14/14

#StillWeRise #Teacher
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

A song for Sadie Alexander, a Penn alumna of great esteem | Penn Today

Seventeen-year-old Sadie Tanner Mossell arrived at Penn in the fall of 1915 filled with strong-willed ambition, a determination to succeed, and the utmost confidence, in a world that told her she was ugly, ignorant, and inferior. She grew up surrounded by excellence, flowing across generations, and knew that prevalent notions of black inferiority were false and uncivilized.

Penn Today

Joj O Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco reading through your post regarding black history is quite entertaining and educative. #Teacher

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 2, 2023

@IamJojo thank you for reading it.

Sapalotters Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco she is such a queen

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 2, 2023

@Bavettehate4life indeed. A remarkable woman.

Lynne Jackier Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco
Thank you for a really interesting, informative thread!

Kara W. Swanson Jul 2, 2023

@Deglassco thanks for this great thread!
Sadie’s family also included aunt Gertrude Bustill Mossell, a #writer publishing as Mrs N.F. Mossell. (The Work of the African American Woman (1894)). Gertrude was also an #inventor who did not patent her invention, a form of camping equipment. Interesting to think about how her niece embraced law as a tool & (maybe?) also claimed her own name in public spaces. #BlackInventors #LegalHist
https://blogs.stockton.edu/litrecovery2019/mrs-n-f-mossell/

Mrs. N.F. Mossell | Recovering 19th-Century American Women Writers, Volume 2

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 2, 2023

@karawswanson thanks for that information. I will check her out.
Thank you for reading the post also.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 2, 2023

@blackmastodon
It sure was.

Aviva Gary Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon Awesome

John G Fitzgerald Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon An amazing story of achievement in the face of adversity.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 2, 2023

@j_g_fitzgerald Indeed!

Humble Fan of Atty. Woo Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon

Quite an achievement!! carry on

Liv Jul 1, 2023

@Deglassco @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon Based

Jacky Tweedie Jul 2, 2023

@Deglassco @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon thnx for this

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 3, 2023

@jstweedie no, thank you.