Otelia Cromwell

Otelia Cromwell
Cromwell, from a 1926 publication
Born(1874-04-08)April 8, 1874
DiedApril 25, 1972(1972-04-25) (aged 98)
EducationMiner Normal School; Howard University; Smith College
Alma materColumbia University; Yale University
OccupationProfessor
Parent(s)Lucy McGuinn and John Wesley Cromwell
RelativesJohn Wesley Cromwell Jr. (brother)
Adelaide M. Cromwell (niece)

Otelia Cromwell (April 8, 1874 – April 25, 1972) was a distinguished scholar and Professor of English Language and Literature at Miner Teachers College now known as University of the District of Columbia. She was the first African American to graduate from Smith College, receiving a B.A. in Classics in 1900. She later earned her M.A. at Columbia University in 1910 and a Ph.D. in English at Yale University in 1926, becoming the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate degree there.