English: Biography: In 1921 Sadie Alexander was one of the first three Black women in the United states to be awarded a doctorate; she was also the first Black woman to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and the first to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Her father, Aaron Mossell, had been the first Black graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and her mother, Mary Tanner Mossell, was the fourth generation of the Tanner family recorded as "free negroes" in the U.S. Census. After earning B.S., M.A., Ph.D., and LL.B. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, she engaged in private practice with the Philadelphia firm of her husband, Raymond Pace Alexander, until his death in 1974. Subsequently joining another firm, Dr. Alexander worked as an attorney in Philadelphia for more than 50 years. She participated in numerous civic organizations, including the National Urban League and Delta Sigma Theta, which she served as first national president.

Description: The Black Women Oral History Project interviewed 72 African American women between 1976 and 1981. With support from the Schlesinger Library, the project recorded a cross section of women who had made significant contributions to American society during the first half of the 20th century. Photograph taken by Judith Sedwick
Repository: Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.
Collection: Black Women Oral History Project
Research Guide: http://guides.library.harvard.edu/schlesinger_bwohp

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