Vivian E. J. Cook

Vivian E. J. Cook (1889-1977) was an American educator and activist. She was the first African American woman in Baltimore to hold an administrative position at a secondary school.

Biography Cook née Johnson was born in Collierville, Tennessee on October 6, 1889. Her parents, Caroline Alley and Spencer Johnson, were both born into slavery. Caroline Alley became the first African American school teacher in Fayette County, Tennessee and her four daughters, including Vivian received college educations.

Cook graduated from Howard University in 1912. She began her teaching career at the Tuskegee Institute. She then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and from there moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she taught at Sumner High School. In 1918 she married Ralph Victor Cook and the couple moved to Baltimore, Maryland.

Cook died on July 28, 1977 in Baltimore. Her papers are archived at Howard University.