Sarah Jane Woodson Early, born Sarah Jane Woodson
(November 15, 1825 – August 1907)
She was an American educator, black nationalist, temperance activist, and author. A graduate of Oberlin College, where she majored in classics, she was hired at Wilberforce University in 1858 as the first black woman college instructor, and also the first black American to teach at a historically black college or university (HBCU).
She also taught for many years in community schools. After marrying in 1868 and moving to Tennessee with her minister husband Jordan Winston Early, she was the principal of schools in four cities. Early served as national superintendent (1888–1892) of the black division of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), and gave more than 100 lectures across five states. She wrote a biography of her husband and his rise from slavery that is included among postwar slave narratives.
Sarah W. Early became increasingly active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement, one of the numerous reform activities of the nineteenth century. In 1888 she was elected for a four-year term as national superintendent of the Colored Division of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union; during her tenure, Early traveled frequently and gave more than 100 speeches to groups throughout a five-state region. Sarah W. Early became superintendent of the Colored Division within the WTCU. She was also a spokesperson for the Prohibition Party in Tennessee.
Works
Woodson’s 1863 speech was collected and published by Bishop Daniel Payne, ed., The Semi-Centenary and the Retrospection of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore: Sherwood, 1868.
Sarah J. W. Early, The Life and Labors of Rev. J. W. Early, One of the Pioneers of African Methodism in the West and South (1894), a biography of her husband. It has been classified among the post-Civil War slave narratives, as she covered Early’s rise from slavery through his decades of missionary activities for the AME church.
Legacy and honors
1888, Woodson Early was appointed superintendent of the Colored Division of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).[23]
1893, Woodson Early was named “Representative Woman of the Year” at the Chicago World’s Fair (World’s Columbian Exposition). As per Findagrave.com Sarah J. W. Early was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery, Nashville, TN.