Dr Merze Tate, Lady Kofoworola Ademola, and Hera Jay Brown

In March, I will be spotlighting a variety of women that more people should know during Women's History Month. Today I am spotlighting the first African-American woman to achieve a degree at Oxford, the first Black African woman to achieve a degree at Oxford, and the first transgender woman to be named a Rhodes Scholar. 

First African-American woman to achieve a degree at Oxford

Dr Merze Tate (February 6, 1905 – June 27, 1996) was a professor, scholar and expert on United States diplomacy. She was the first African-American graduate of Western Michigan Teachers College, first African-American woman to attend the University of Oxford, first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in government and international relations from Harvard University (then Radcliffe College), as well as one of the first two female members to join the Department of History at Howard University.

First Black African woman to achieve a degree at Oxford

Oloori Kofoworola "Kofo" Aina Ademola, Lady Ademola MBE, MFR, OFR (née Moore; 21 May 1913 – 15 May 2002), was the first black African woman to achieve a degree at Oxford. Lady Ademola, as she would become, lived a fascinating life as a lifelong advocate for women’s education and social reform. 

Lady Kofoworola Ademola achieved her English degree at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, in 1935.

Accomplishments:

• She was a social worker, teacher, and educator; she co-founded two schools: the Girls Secondary Modern School in Lagos and the New Era Girls' Secondary School, Lagos.

• She was a director of the board of trustees of the United Bank for Africa and secretary of the Western Region Scholarship Board.

• She also wrote children's books, many of them based on West African folklore, including Greedy Wife and the Magic Spoon, Ojeje Trader and the Magic Pebbles, Tutu and the Magic Gourds, and Tortoise and the Clever Ant, all part of the "Mudhut Book" series.

Recognition: 

• Lady Ademola became an important figure in women’s organizations such as the Red Cross, which led to her becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

• Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's government awarded her the honor of membership in the Order of the Federal Republic. The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger.

• Lady Ademola also held the chieftaincy titles of the Mojibade of Ake and the Lika of Ijemo.

The First Transgender Woman To Be Named A Rhodes Scholar

Hera Jay Brown, M.Phil., is the founder and Executive Director of Sanctuarium, a US nonprofit that supports Transgender, Intersex, and Gender Variant (TIGV) immigrant communities. Her work focuses on human rights and justice in relation to the legal regimes governing asylum, development, displacement, and labor in Jordan, the EU, and the US. She conducted research on the Jordan Compact's labor permit program at Oxford. Hera has received numerous awards, including the Fulbright-Schuman Graduate Research Fellowship and the Rhodes Scholarship.