Biography
Early Life
Lucy Craft Laney founded the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in Georgia with the support of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Laney was born in Macon, Georgia to formerly enslaved parents. Her father, David Laney, was a founder of John Knox Presbytery, the first all-Black congregation in the denomination.
Laney maintained her affiliation with the Presbyterian Church for the rest of her life, influenced greatly by her family’s membership. She excelled in her studies and became a part of the first class of students to attend and graduate from Atlanta University in 1873.
Teaching Career & Religion
After earning her teaching credentials, she began teaching at several schools in Georgia until she decided to open her own in 1886. She later said, “the whole world, calls loudly to the cultured Negro women to come to the rescue.” Perhaps, she was compelled to rescue vulnerable children by providing a haven at her school.
The Haines Institute began in a room at Christ Presbyterian Church but quickly outgrew the space. Her faith sustained her as the only teacher and administrator of the school in its first years. Though she received no salary, Laney remained committed to the welfare of her students and the longevity of the school for the rest of her life.
She did not physically birth children but was known as a mother to many and valued her contributions to Black youth greatly, once explaining that “Motherhood, honored by our blessed Master, is the crown of womanhood. This gives her not only interest in the home and society, but also authority…She has the privilege and authority, God-given, to help develop into a nobleman or woman in the young life committed to her care. There is no nobler work entrusted to the hands of mortals.”
Achievements
She held prominent affiliations with the National Association of Colored Women, the Georgia State Teachers Association, and the Interracial Commission of Augusta. In 1898 and 1904 respectively, Atlanta University and Lincoln University made her the first woman to receive an honorary degree from their institutions.
After her death in 1933, Lucy Craft Laney’s legacy continues to live on through the many lives she touched and her faith creating an educational space for several generations.
