Fannie Smith Washington

Fannie Smith Washington (1858 – May 4, 1884) was an American educator, and the first wife of Booker T. Washington. Before her premature death in 1884, Fannie Washington aided her husband in the early development of the Tuskegee Institute.

Early life

Born sometime in 1858, Fannie Virginia Norton Smith (sometimes spelled "Fanny") grew up in what is now Malden, Kanawha County, West Virginia. Her father was Samuel Smith, said to be part Shawnee, and her mother was Celia (or Cecelia) Smith. Malden being the same town where Booker T. Washington lived from the age of nine to when he was 16, the pair were likely acquainted from an early age.

Education

Smith grew up in a rural area without a lot of opportunity for education, especially for a black woman. However, she was able to pursue advanced studies through hard work and determination. In January 1880, she sent her final payment of $48 to J. F. B. Marshall. At that point, Smith was earning $32.50 a month through her teacher's salary, but most of it was being used to meet household expenses. She was placed on the roll of honor, as a student "who, leaving the school in debt to it, have paid their debts in full from their earnings as teachers or otherwise".

Death

On May 4, 1884, Fannie Smith Washington died suddenly of unknown causes. An account of her death, published in the Alumni Journal at Hampton, contained the following:

Her death is indeed a serious bereavement to Mr. Washington, whose acquaintance and regard for the deceased had begun in their childhood. Their happy union had done much to lighten the arduous duties developing upon him in the management of his school. To his friends he had several times expressed the great comfort his family life was to him.