After the Pennsylvania segregation legislation of 1854 was struck down due to being “in violation of the United States Constitution” in the early 1880s, high schools across the commonwealth started admitting Black students, writes Rachel Foor for the Altoona Mirror. 

While Charles F. Brown of Hollidaysburg is considered to be the first Black high school graduate in Pennsylvania, a newspaper article from 1883 points to somebody else. 

Harriett Gaston, who is the coordinator of minority programs at Penn State Altoona and historian for the Blair County NAACP Chapter, took a deep dive into Black history.

“In 1883, there’s a newspaper article out of Philadelphia talking about a young Black woman from Coatesville, Philadelphia, being the first Black high school graduate in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Gaston.

However, Gaston recognized that there is not enough information available to draw a conclusion and to say with certainty if the woman is truly the one who graduated first. 

Read more about the state’s first Black high school graduate in the Altoona Mirror. 

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