Mary Henrietta Graham

Mary Henrietta Graham (1857 or 1858 – January 2, 1890) was the first African-American woman to be admitted to the University of Michigan, as well as the first biracial person to graduate from it. Early life Graham was born in Windsor, Ontario, to a white Englishwoman mother (Sarah) and black father (Levi) from Illinois, making her biracial. She was the second oldest of at least four children. At some point in her youth, she moved to Flint, Michigan, where she graduated from Flint High School in 1876. She went by the nickname "Mollie." Education In 1880, she graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor's of Philosophy in Literature. While in Ann Arbor, she lived at 10 Maynard Street and, later, 4 N. State St. After graduating, she gained a post as a teacher at Lincoln University in Jefferson, Missouri.