Charlotte Maxeke dies

Charlotte Makgomo Maxeke, teacher, social worker, politician and founder of the Bantu Women's League of South Africa, died in Johannesburg at the age of 65. In 1905 she became the first African woman from South Africa to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.). Even before her death she was honoured as 'Mother of Black Freedom in South Africa' at a meeting of the All-African Convention in December 1935 by Dr. A.B. Xuma, later to be the President-General of the African National Congress (ANC). Professor D.D.T. Jabavu of Fort Hare is said to have described her on another occasion as "one of the great figures of Bantu progressive life and one of the best known figures in public life in South Africa." The ANC Women's Section named a kindergarten/nursery in Morogoro, Tanzania, 'The Charlotte Maxeke Child Care Centre.' Click here to read All-Africa Convention: The Awakening of a people, by I.B.Tabata