Margaree S. Crosby, the first tenured African American woman professor in the College of Education at Clemson University in South Carolina, passed away on November 8. She was 82 years old.
Years before her career in higher education, Dr. Crosby was a dedicated participant in the civil rights movement. Alongside Jessie Jackson and a group of peers, Dr. Crosby sat in protest of the Greenville County Public Library in South Carolina. Known as the “Greenville Eight,” the group’s protest led to the library’s desegregation in the 1960s.
After completing her graduate education, Dr. Crosby joined the faculty at the Clemson University College of Education in 1977. She ultimately became a full professor, making her the university’s first-ever Black woman professor of education to earn tenure.
After she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1984, Dr. Crosby retired from Clemson a year later as professor emerita. Just three years later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She conquered both diseases and went on to serve as a national advocate for breast cancer awareness. In the 1990s, she became the first woman board member of the Greenville Hospital System.
Dr. Crosby received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from South Carolina State University. She earned her master of education degree in reading from Clemson University and her doctorate in reading and elementary education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.