Lucy Diggs Slowe

        Lucy Diggs Slowe was born in Berryville, Virginia, the youngest child
of Henry Slowe, a hotel proprietor, and Fannie Porter Slowe.  Her father died 
when she was nine months old.  After her mother's death in 1890, Lucy went to
live with her paternal aunt, Mrs. Martha Price, in Lexington, Virginia.  
Three years later the family moved to Baltimore where she attended the public
elementary and high schools.
        In 1904, she became the first woman graduate of the Baltimore Colored
High School to enter Howard University.  She was also the first graduate from
her high school to receive a college scholarship.  To supplement her meager 
finances, she worked her way through Howard University with summer employment
as a clerk.  She continued to live in Baltimore and commuted daily to 
Washington.
        At Howard, Ms. Slowe was a very industrious student and would rise 
early in the morning to study before classes.  She was so well thought of by 
the faculty and by her peers, that during her senior year she was trusted to 
chaperone the Miner Hall girls in the reception room and on downtown shopping
tours.
        Ms. Slowe was active in many facets of undergraduate life.  She sang 
as a contralto with the university choir, was president of the Women's Tennis
Club, vice president and secretary of the Alpha Phi Literary Society, and was
a staunch supporter of the intercollegiate debating team.
        Ms. Slowe was an active and enthusiastic member of the founding group
of Alpha Kappa Alpha.  Her assignment was to prepare the first draft of the 
constitution, and the document finally adopted was developed from her draft 
by Margaret Flagg, Lavinia Norman and Ethel Hedgeman. it stipulated that the 
president of the sorority must be a senior, so Miss Slowe was elected the 
first president of Alpha Kappa Alpha.  After she received the Bachelor of 
Arts degree in 1908, she taught at the Douglass High School in Baltimore for 
seven years.  During that period, she did graduate work at Columbia 
University and received the master's degree in 1915.  From 1915 to 1919, she 
taught at Armstrong High School in the District of Columbia and served one 
year as dean of girls.  The quality of her work was soon recognized.  In 
September 1919, Ms. Slowe was requested by the board of education to organize
the first junior high school in the District of Columbia.  She was appointed 
principal of this school, Shaw junior School, and served in that position 
until June 1922.
        In 1922, Ms. Slowe became the first dean of women at Howard 
University, a position she held until her death in 1937.  In her new position, 
Ms. Slowe immediately established contact with the offices of deans of women 
at other major universities, and studied their procedures and adapted them to 
the needs of Howard.  She was helped by Dr. Romiett Stevens of Columbia
University who had developed the first course for deans of women in the
 United States.  Ms. Slowe maintained close ties with Columbia for the rest of 
her life and often delivered lectures at that university.
The responsibilities of her position were varied.  In addition to her duties 
as educational advisor on women's affairs, she was responsible for the 
housing of students and for seeking funding sources and (or) employment.  
She assisted in the organization and execution of student government and 
helped plan community liaison projects.  One of the principal accomplishments
as dean of women was to persuade the board of trustees to establish the 
women's campus on Fourth Street.  Ms. Slowe also inaugurated the famous 
Christian Vesper service at Howard and the Women's Dinner in the fall.  In 
addition to her responsibilities as dean of women, Ms. Slowe was a professor 
in the department of English.
        Ms. Slowe served Alpha Kappa Alpha to the extent proper for her 
position.  Her efficiency and organizational skills became evident through 
her many activities as a nationally known educator, lecturer and 
administrator.  She organized the National Association of College Women and 
served as its president for several years.  She founded the Association of 
Advisors to Women in Colored Schools and she was affiliated with and served 
as president of the College Alumnae Club of Washington.
        She was well aware of the importance of interracial communication and
was counselor to the Race Relations Group of the North American Home Missions
of the National Student Council and served on committees of the national 
board of the YWCA.
        A visionary, Ms. Slowe began in 1933 emphasizing the importance of 
education for all women and advising that Black women, in particular, study 
economics and government so as to have the necessary knowledge to improve the
social conditions of all Black people.
        Recognition of the exceptional career of Ms. Slowe was part of the 
program of the 70th anniversary convention of the National Association of 
Women Deans, Administrators and Counselors in 1986.  A plaque honoring Lucy 
Diggs Slowe, America's first Black dean of women and first Black member of 
the National Association of Women Deans, Administrators and Counselors is 
displayed in the organization's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Dr. Lucille 
Piggott, retired dean of students at North Carolina Agricultural and 
Technical College, was responsible for the presentation.
        Lucy Diggs Slowe died on October 21, 1937 after an illness of two 
months.  Two buildings located in Washington, D.C. have been named for her: 
the Lucy Diggs Slowe Hall of Howard University and the Lucy Diggs Slowe 
Elementary School.