Mary Annette Anderson was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 and the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 woman elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Anderson was born in Shoreham

Shoreham, Vermont

Shoreham is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,222 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 46.3 square miles , of which 43.5 square miles is land and 2.8 square miles is...

, Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, to William and Philomine (Langlois) Anderson. Her father, a farmer, was a freed slave originally from Virginia, and her mother was a Canadian immigrant of French and Native American ancestry. Anderson was educated at the Northfield School for Young Ladies in Northfield, Massachusetts

Northfield, Massachusetts

Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, before entering Middlebury College

Middlebury College

Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...

 in 1895. She graduated in 1899 as valedictorian

Valedictorian

Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...

, becoming the first African American woman elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Following graduation from Middlebury, Anderson taught at Straight University

Straight University

Straight University, after 1915 Straight College, was a historically black college that operated between 1868 and 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded by the American Missionary Association.-Campus:...

 in New Orleans before being appointed a professor of English grammar and history at Howard University

Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

in Washington, D.C. She married Walter Lucius Smith on August 7, 1907, and gave up teaching.