On Tuesday Dr. Anika Prather addressed parents and faculty in to tell them about the new campus namesake, Dr. Anna Julia Cooper! The timing of her talk was fortuitous, as the Public Charter School Board voted the previous day to approve our application for the 711 Edgewood facility named for Dr. Cooper. Cooper was an author, activist, educator, and academic scholar. Born into slavery, Cooper went on to complete a doctorate and write several books including A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South. Her work focused on sexism, racism, class, and labor, engaging in debates through her writing with well known male writers, like W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglas, and Martin Delaney. She focused on the importance of higher education, an ethos right in line with our new school. Cooper resided in Northwest Washington, D.C. near LeDroit Park. Dr. Prather is a Howard University professor and founder of the Living Water School. She has addressed the faculty previously on her research on literacy and the classical canon.
