Person

Nettie Craig Asberry

Black and white photo of a woman with a fur cap and cloak around her shoulders.
Nettie Craig Asberry, circa 1925

Courtesy of Washington State Historical Society

Quick Facts
Significance:
First African American woman to earn a doctorate degree; taught music in Nicodemus, Denver, Kansas City, and Tacoma; co-founded NAACP in Tacoma.
Place of Birth:
Leavenworth, Kansas
Date of Birth:
July 15, 1865
Place of Death:
Tacoma, Washington
Date of Death:
November 17, 1968
Place of Burial:
Tacoma, Washington
Cemetery Name:
Oakwood Hill Cemetery

Nettie Craig Asberry was an acclaimed musical performer, teacher, and civil rights activist. As the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree, she blazed a path for Black women after her to follow their passions and create a positive impact in their communities. 

Asberry was born as Nettie Craig on July 15, 1865, in Leavenworth, Kansas. She was the sixth and only free-born child of Violet Craig, an enslaved woman, and William Wallingford, a plantation owner. Very little is known of Nettie’s parents, except that when Violet was freed, she rejected the last name Wallingford and adopted the surname Craig for herself and her children, possibly from the Craig plantation where Violet had been born in 1835.  

From an early age, Asberry showed an interest in and skill for music and activism. She began studying piano at age 8 and became interested in woman’s suffrage at 13, when she saw Susan B. Anthony speak in Leavenworth.

In spring 1879, Asberry’s family moved to Nicodemus in the last major wave of Black settlement to the area. Like many in this group, her family, now including stepfather Taylor Turner, homesteaded in the southern “Kebar” section of Wildhorse township, directly south of Nicodemus township.

Looking to further her musical education, Asberry returned to Leavenworth in 1881 to study at the Kansas Conservatory of Music and Elocution, now part of the University of Kansas. On June 12, 1883, Asberry became likely the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree, her diploma assuring Nettie the “rights, privileges, and dignities” of a doctorate in teaching music. From this point, Asberry began a decades long career as a music instructor. 

After spending the rest of 1883 through 1885 teaching music and leading church choirs in Denver and Leadville, Colorado, Asberry returned to Nicodemus. During 1886, Asberry taught at the District No. 1 School in town, earning a formal teaching qualification at the Millbrook Normal Institute in August of that year. Asberry began offering musical lessons “at prices within reach of all” in piano, organ, and voice in 1887, advertising in Nicodemus papers. She was an organist at the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and became highly involved in the community’s social scene, organizing and performing at several town events, including holiday celebrations. She also organized and became secretary of a literary society in Nicodemus in late 1886, which held weekly Lyceums at the First Baptist Church.

Asberry married Albert Jones in 1890, and the couple moved to Seattle, Washington, where Nettie became the first organist and musical director of the city’s new AME church. Albert Jones passed away in 1893, and Asberry briefly returned to family in Kansas before marrying Henry Joseph Asberry in 1895 and moving to Tacoma, Washington. She would live there for the rest of her life.

In Tacoma, Asberry became heavily involved in women’s clubs and activism. She strongly encouraged the creation of African American women’s clubs to help women foster relationships through shared interests and providing mutual aid to others, and served as president of the Washington State Federation of Colored Women’s Organizations. Asberry cemented herself in Washington Black history by co-founding the Tacoma branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1913, making it the first chapter west of the Mississippi River. She would serve as regional field secretary and later as local branch secretary, and also helped form NAACP chapters in Seattle, Spokane, and Portland.

Playing music and exposing students of all backgrounds to music remained a key part of Asberry’s life. She taught music for over 50 years in Tacoma, and was admired for her musical prowess and devotion to students. In 1902, Asberry organized the Mozart Musical Club to allow local youth to broaden their musical culture and knowledge of the lives of great composers.

Well into her old age, Asberry remained socially active and interested in advocating for civil rights and women’s rights. Interviewed at the age of 96, Asberry said that, “Courage is the saving grace in this tense world racial situation. Courage of the white people who dare to show their fairness by helping us achieve positions of human dignity, and courage of those of other races who risk insults by quietly asserting their rights as human beings.” 

Nettie Craig Asberry passed away at the age of 103 on November 17, 1968. She left behind an incredible legacy of devotion to advancing the rights of all and bringing music to everyone. Through decades of teaching music to students of all backgrounds, through the encouragement and promotion of women’s clubs devoted to nurturing community in shared interests and mutual aid, through her role in the establishment of the NAACP in Washington state and lifelong advocacy for equal rights for all, Nettie Craig Asberry left a remarkable impact.

Sources

Nicodemus National Historic Site

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Last updated: October 10, 2024