Ada A. Cooper

Ada Augusta Newton Harris Cooper (1861–1899) was a 19th-century Black American teacher and writer. Despite humble beginnings, she became a noted orator, giving talks in AME churches around the country,

Early life and education Ada Augusta Newton was born on 6 February 1861 in Brooklyn, New York. She is the daughter of Olivia Hamilton Newton and Rev. Alexander H. Newton, an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church minister. She was selected to deliver poems on 1 January 1881 in celebration of emancipation.

In 1891, she also gave a notable speech at the North Carolina Industrial Fair as part of an Interstate Exposition

Personal life and death Newton married fellow teacher, Rev. William R. Harris, on 4 May 1884 following a long engagement. However, her husband died in January 1885, less than a year after they married. In 1892, she married the Rev. Dr. Albert B. Cooper.

Cooper died on 18 September 1899. Her obituary noted that she "was one of the foremost and most gifted women workers in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She was a fine musician, an entertaining and eloquent speaker, an authoress and poetess of no mean talent, and a musical composer of considerable ability."

Works

Newton, Ada A. "Esta or Estranged". The Banner-Enterprise. Raleigh, North Carolina. Thursday, April 19, 1883