Born on March 28, 1898, Nellie Rathbone Bright was an immigrant daughter, an acclaimed author and an educator activist. Bright was an African American woman who challenged the boundaries of gender, involving herself in grassroots political work in order to alleviate the racial inequities prominent during her time period. She is one of Philadelphia’s most outstanding and distinguished educators—having co-founded the literary magazine Black Opals in order to encourage black writers. She was also a co-founder of Philadelphia’s famed Fellowship House, an interracial, intercultural institution for individuals of diverse backgrounds to socialize and learn from one another.

Bright also was prominent in the Pennsylvania Association of Teachers of Colored Children, an organization that brought African American teachers together to work towards racial equality. On February 14, 1935, Bright became the principal of Germantown’s all-Black Joseph E. Hill Elementary School. Her work in the school system helped stress the importance of academic success and racial uplift.

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