Della Irving Hayden

Della Irving Hayden (c. 1851–1924) was an American educator. She founded in 1904, Franklin Normal and Industrial Institute in Franklin, Virginia.

Early life Della Irving was born into slavery and raised by a grandmother in Tarboro, North Carolina until she was reunited with her mother Charlotte Irving in 1865, after Emancipation.

She attended school in Franklin, Virginia, and graduated in 1877 from Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University). At Hampton she knew fellow students Booker T. Washington and his first wife Fannie Smith Washington. Della Irving spoke at Hampton's graduation exercises in 1877, on "Our Work as Women", and won a cash prize presented by the First Lady, Lucy Webb Hayes.

Career Della Irving began teaching in rural Virginia in 1875, during a break from her studies at Hampton. In 1904, she organized the Franklin Normal and Industrial Institute, and was its principal. By 1916 Franklin had buildings and a land to run a small farm and board dozens of women students, funded mainly by donations solicited by Hayden. "I have been trying to teach my people to help themselves. It has been my heart's desire to help elevate my race," she wrote. She was active with the Young Women's Christian Association. She also held officer positions in the county's Sunday School Union.

A large monument was erected in her memory at Southview Cemetery in 1927, and in 1953 Hayden High School in Franklin was named in her honor (the site is now the Hayden Village Center, a residence and community center for seniors run by Senior Citizens of Southeastern Virginia).

In 2016, Hayden was included as one of "The 15 Most Influential People in Western Tidewater History" by Progress magazine.