Sarah J. Smith Thompson Garnet
| Sarah J. Garnett | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Sarah Smith July 31, 1831 Brooklyn, New York, US |
| Died | September 17, 1911 |
| Occupation | Educator and suffragist |
Sarah J. Tompkins Garnet (née Smith) (July 31, 1831 - Sept. 17, 1911) was an African-American educator and suffragist from New York City who was a pioneer as the first African-American female school principal in the New York City public school system.
Sarah J. Smith, daughter of Sylvanus and Anne (Springsteel) Smith, was born on July 31, 1831 in Brooklyn, New York. Sarah was the oldest of eleven children; her parents were farmers and owned land in Queens County, then part of Long Island. Her sister Susan McKinney Steward was the first African-American woman in New York State to earn a medical degree, and the third in the United States.
Sarah married Samuel Tompkins who died in approximately 1852. Her two children from that marriage died prematurely.
When Sarah began teaching in New York City, the public schools were racially segregated. Sarah began teaching at the African Free School of Williamsburg in 1854. She was the first African-American woman to be appointed as a principal in the New York City public school system; she took over as principal of Grammar School Number 4 on April 30, 1863. She taught many prominent students, including musician Walter F. Craig.
Garnet retired from active school service in 1900. She served as teacher and principal for thirty-seven years.
Sarah was the founder of the Brooklyn suffrage organization, Equal Suffrage League in the late 1880s. And she was the superintendent of suffrage for the National Association of Colored Women.
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