Born: 1868, United States
Died: 24 February 1934
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Nellie
Botanist and educator Jane Eleanor “Nellie” Datcher became the first African-American woman to earn an advanced degree from Cornell University in 1890. She enrolled at age 19 with her cousin, Charles Chauveau Cook, and completed her Bachelor of Science for her research on Hepatica triloba and Hepatica acutiloba. She, Charles and George Washington Fields were the university’s first African-American graduates. Charles eventually went on to head the English department at Howard University, where Datcher attended medical school from 1893 to 1894.
Datcher was a founding member of Mary Church Terrell’s Collegiate Alumnae Club (later part of the Colored Women’s League) of educated African-American women, founded in 1892 to work to improve conditions for African-American children, women and those living in poverty. Datcher taught chemistry at Dunbar High School until shortly before her 1934 death. Known as the best school for African-American students in the area, working at Dunbar enabled Datcher to teach these students at a high level of academic achievement while also earning pay at the same level as teachers at white schools in DC.