Olivia Davidson Washington was an educator, administrator and a co-founder of Tuskegee. Washington was born in 1854. She was the daughter of an ex-slave and freeborn mother. In 1857, Washington’s family migrated to southern Ohio, where father died which led her mother to move the family further north to Albany.

Washington received her education at the Enterprise Academy, during this time she knew and interacted with numerous students at Oberlin College. After completing her studies, Washington began teaching. She accepted a job in Memphis, Tennesse during the time the city was facing a financial crisis and the yellow fever epidemic. It was during her summer break in Ohio that the epidemic began.

She left for Tuskegee where she worked as a curriculum specialist, teacher, and principal. She married Booker T. Washington in August of 1886. Olivia Davidson Washington died on May 9, 1889.

sources:

https://aaregistry.org/story/olivia-davidson-washington-quiet-co-founder-of-tuskegee/