Fannie Barrier Williams Women of Courage Scholarship

Fannie Barrier Williams, Class of 1870, was a native of Brockport and the first African-American to graduate from the Brockport Normal School. Friends and donors of the Women’s Center at SUNY Brockport established this scholarship in her name to recognize an outstanding student who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to social justice and/or advocacy on behalf of a disenfranchised or under-represented group or individual in the tradition of Mrs. Williams.

After graduation, Mrs. Williams went to Washington, DC, to teach newly freed African-Americans. She met her future husband, S. Laing Williams, who worked in the U.S. Pension Office while attending law school. The couple was married in Brockport and moved to Chicago, where Mr. Williams began a successful law practice.

It was in Chicago that Mrs. Williams became involved with local community activists. She advocated the need for black women to have the right to vote, and she was the only African-American selected to eulogize Susan B. Anthony at the 1907 National American Woman Suffrage Association convention. She helped found the National League of Colored Women and its successor, the National Association of Colored Women. She was among the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

In 1894, she was the first black woman nominated for membership in the Chicago Woman’s Club and the first black and first woman to serve on the Chicago Library Board. She was appointed Clerk in charge of Colored Interests in the Department of Publicity and Promotions for the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893. At the Exposition, she delivered two major addresses, the first disputing the suggestion that slavery had made African-American women incapable of the same moral and intellectual levels as other women, and the second calling on churches in the South to open their doors to all worshippers regardless of color.

Following the death of her husband, Mrs. William returned to Brockport to live with her sister, Ella Barrier. She passed away in 1944.

Students who are eligible for the Fannie Barrier Williams Women of Courage Scholarship are entering their junior or senior years at the College, have a GPA of at least 3.0, and demonstrate a strong commitment to social justice and/or advocacy on behalf of a disenfranchised or under-represented group. Applicants also must submit an essay of up to 1,000 words that explains how their commitment to social justice affects their education and career choices.