Charity Zormelo
Encyclopedia
Charity Akoshiwo Tornyewonya Zormelo, subsequently Mrs Fiawoo (1904, Keta
– 14 October 1945) was the first woman graduate from the Gold Coast
, and the first woman from English-speaking West Africa to earn a B. S. degree.
was the daughter of Godfred Nyavor Zormelo, a former North German Mission employee and fishing business proprietor, and Patience Abolitsi Dzokotoe. Victoria Zormelo-Gorleku
was her younger half-sister. Completing elementary school education at the local African Methodist Episcopal Zion School in 1919, she taught for a while before being sponsored by the local minister to travel to the USA in 1926 for further study. In 1930 she graduated from High School in Bordentown, New Jersey
and used a $300 scholarship to enrol in Home Economics
at Hampton Institute. Active in student societies, she graduated in 1934. Though recommended to Achimota College, there were no teaching vacancies thereand on returning to the Gold Coast she began teaching at Mmofraturo, a recently founded Wesleyan
girls boarding school at Kumasi
. A public lecture on education, delivered in Accra
in 1935, was welcomed by the African Morning Post
.
World War II
disrupted Charity Zormelo's efforts to pursue study in the United States for a Masters in Education. She moved to teach at New African University College in Anloga
, and in 1942 married the college's founder and President, Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo
. With her husband, other staff and students she toured southern Eweland - in both the Gold Coast and Togoland - with his play Toko Atolia. Intending to return to the United States to continue study after the war, she died aged forty-one on 14 October 1945.
Keta
Keta is a city in Volta Region, Ghana. It was an important trading post between the 14th and late 20th century via a port and fort built by the Dutch in 1784. Parts of the city were devastated by sea erosion between the 1960s and 1980s....
– 14 October 1945) was the first woman graduate from the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
, and the first woman from English-speaking West Africa to earn a B. S. degree.
Life
Charity Zormelo, a EweEwe people
The Ewe are a people located in the southeast corner of Ghana, east of the Volta River, in an area now described as the Volta Region, in southern Togo and western Benin...
was the daughter of Godfred Nyavor Zormelo, a former North German Mission employee and fishing business proprietor, and Patience Abolitsi Dzokotoe. Victoria Zormelo-Gorleku
Victoria Zormelo-Gorleku
Rev. Mrs. Victoria Ama Zormelo-Gorleku was the first woman Prisons Officer in Ghana, and the first ordained woman priest in any of the established Mission Churches in Ghana.-Life:...
was her younger half-sister. Completing elementary school education at the local African Methodist Episcopal Zion School in 1919, she taught for a while before being sponsored by the local minister to travel to the USA in 1926 for further study. In 1930 she graduated from High School in Bordentown, New Jersey
Bordentown, New Jersey
Bordentown City is in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 3,924. Bordentown is located at the confluence of the Delaware River, Blacks Creek and Crosswicks Creek...
and used a $300 scholarship to enrol in Home Economics
Home Economics
Home economics is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community...
at Hampton Institute. Active in student societies, she graduated in 1934. Though recommended to Achimota College, there were no teaching vacancies thereand on returning to the Gold Coast she began teaching at Mmofraturo, a recently founded Wesleyan
Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was the name used by the major Methodist movement in Great Britain following its split from the Church of England after the death of John Wesley and the appearance of parallel Methodist movements...
girls boarding school at Kumasi
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...
. A public lecture on education, delivered in Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
in 1935, was welcomed by the African Morning Post
African Morning Post
African Morning Post was a daily newspaper in Accra, Gold Coast published by City Press Ltd. Editorial and Pub. It was founded in 1934 by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe....
.
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
disrupted Charity Zormelo's efforts to pursue study in the United States for a Masters in Education. She moved to teach at New African University College in Anloga
Anloga
Anloga is a town in Keta District of the Volta Region in southeast Ghana, West Africa. It lies east of the Volta River and just south of the Keta Lagoon.-History:...
, and in 1942 married the college's founder and President, Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo was a Ghanaian minister of religion, playwright and educator, founder of Zion College, the first secondary school in Ghana's Volta Region.-Life:...
. With her husband, other staff and students she toured southern Eweland - in both the Gold Coast and Togoland - with his play Toko Atolia. Intending to return to the United States to continue study after the war, she died aged forty-one on 14 October 1945.