Every artist, every scientist, must decide now where he stands. He has no alternative. There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers. Through the destruction, in certain countries, of the greatest of man’s literary heritage, through the propagation of false ideas of racial and national superiority, the artist, the scientist, the writer is challenged. The struggle invades the formerly cloistered halls of our universities and other seats of learning. The battlefront is everywhere. There is no sheltered rear. The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery.” — Paul Robeson

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper published her first book, ‘A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South,’ in 1892. ‘A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South’ advanced Cooper’s assertion that educated African (Black) women were necessary for uplifting the entire African (Black) race. African women fought for human rights but were largely overlooked by leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Cooper was particularly critical of European (White) womens racism, especially in organizations that proclaimed to advocate for the rights of all women. She openly confronted leaders of the women’s movement for allowing racism to remain unchecked within the movement.

In 1902, Anna Julia Haywood Cooper was named principal of the M Street High School. As the principal, she enhanced the academic reputation of the school. Cooper’s controversial emphasis on college preparatory courses irked critics (such as Booker T. Washington) who favored vocational education for Africans (Blacks). Using trumped-up charges, the District of Columbia Board of Education refused to renew her contract for the 1905 – 06 school year. In 1910, she was rehired as a teacher at M Street (renamed Dunbar High School after 1916), where she stayed until 1930.