On February 27, 1872, Charlotte Ray graduated from Howard University School of Law, becoming the first black woman to graduate from the school. Born January 13, 1850 in New York City, she attended the Institution for the Education of Colored Youth, now the University of the District of Columbia, one of the few places where a black woman could get an education.
She became a teacher at Howard University, and attended and graduated from the law school. She was the first female admitted to the District of Columbia Bar, and the first woman admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
She opened her own law office in Washington, DC, but practiced only a few years since many people were not ready to trust a black female lawyer. She returned to teaching and working in the Brooklyn school system.
Ray was active in the National Woman Suffrage Association and the National Association of Colored Women. She passed away in January 1911, after a severe case of bronchitis.
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