Born into slavery in 1858 in Raleigh, North Carolina, she was the daughter of Hannah Stanley Haywood, an enslaved woman who was likely impregnated by her enslaver, Fabius J. Haywood. After Emancipation, she embarked on a journey shared by many newly freed individuals and enrolled into the Saint Augustine Normal and Collegiate Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina. As a student, she took a stand against educational gender disparities that would illustrate her advocacy throughout her life.
Organizing one of the earliest protests at the institute, she demanded admission to Greek and Latin courses, which were typically reserved for male students. Noting the gender disparities, she recalled, “A boy…had only to declare a floating intention to study theology and he could get all the support, encouragement and stimulus he needed…While a self-supporting girl had to struggle on by teaching in the summer and working after school hours to keep up with her board bills, and actually to fight her way against positive discouragement to the higher education.” She gained acceptance through her protest.
Her fight against unfair treatment continued when she attended Oberlin College in 1881. Once again, she encountered obstacles when she was denied access to “gentlemen’s courses.” She launched another petition to gain entry. At the age of 19, she married George A.C. Cooper, a Greek teacher and technology student at Saint Augustine. Tragically, she became a widow only two years later, shortly after leaving Oberlin. She never remarried and devoted herself to caring for two foster children and five adopted children.