Elizabeth Virgil

Elizabeth Ann Virgil (April 24, 1903 – June 20, 1991) was an American educator and the first African American to graduate from the University of New Hampshire, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in home economics in 1926. She taught at Black schools and colleges in the southern United States for over a decade before returning to New Hampshire, where she worked for her alma mater from 1951 to 1973.

Life and career Virgil was born on April 24, 1903, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to Alberta Curry Virgil and Wilcox Virgil. Her mother was the daughter of an emancipated slave from Virginia, and her father had immigrated to Virginia from the West Indies. As a seven-year old, Virgil moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with her family. She graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1922.

Virgil enrolled at the University of New Hampshire, where she was active in the glee and other student clubs, played piano and organ, and co-founded the Treble Clefs, a group of singers. Her collegiate experiences seem to have been positive, and on May 26, 1926, she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics, becoming the first African American to graduate from the university. and the Johnston County Training School in Smithfield, North Carolina, where she taught the seventh grade to students ranging in age from 11 to 22.