Fannie Cobb Carter
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Fannie Cobb Carter (September 30, 1872 – March 29, 1973) was an American educator, humanitarian, and activist for school integration in the United States.
Fannie Cobb was born in Charleston, West Virginia. She was born the same the year a state constitution was passed to prohibit black and white children from attending the same schools. Daughter to two formerly enslaved people,[1] Fannie began her schooling at a Black school in Charleston on Quarrier Street. Upon the death of her mother, Fannie lived with her grandmother who worked for Charles Lewis,[1] who allowed Fannie to be taught alongside his children by their governess. Upon graduation from high school, she earned a teaching degree from Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 1891.[2][3]
In the late 1890s, Carter traveled with the Hampton Institute Singers from Hampton, Virginia. She traveled with them throughout Europe, although she was not a singer. She also attended the Hampton Institute for a time.[4]
Adult life
Fannie married Emery Rankin Carter in 1911,[5] who was a lawyer in Charleston, West Virginia. They resided in the South Hills neighborhood.[6]
Carter became friends with West Virginia Governor Homer Holt after she called upon him to stop a public hanging of a woman in Fairmont, West Virginia. Carter reportedly said, "Governor, a woman is going to be hanged. You know that a woman never has been hanged in West Virginia. You wouldn't want that to happen in your administration, would you?"[7] This conversation led to the woman's sentence being commuted to life imprisonment.[citation needed]