Background
Harriet Gibbs was the daughter of Mifflin Gibbs, the first African American judge, and Maria (Alexander) Gibbs, a school teacher. Gibbs was born in Victoria, British Columbia and had one sister, Ida Alexander Gibbs.
Harriet Gibbs was the daughter of Mifflin Gibbs, the first African American judge, and Maria (Alexander) Gibbs, a school teacher. Gibbs was born in Victoria, British Columbia and had one sister, Ida Alexander Gibbs.
Marshall is best known for opening the Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression in 1903 in Washington, District of Columbia. In 1889, Gibbs became the first African-American woman to graduate from Oberlin Conservatory with a degree in music She founded the music program at Eckstein-Norton University in Cane Springs, Kentucky in the last decade of the 19th century. In 1900, Gibbs moved to Washington, District of Columbia and took the position of music supervisor in the segregated African-American public schools there.
She founded the Washington Conservatory of Music in 1903.
lieutenant focused on classical European music In 1911, an elocution program was added, and the school was renamed the Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression.
Marshall joined the Bahá"í Faith in 1912. She hosted Bahá"í events at the Conservatory.
During their time in Haiti, the Marshall"s were excluded from participation in social activities with other United States. Military officers because of racial segregation.
Marshall became active with Haitian organizations, and was Vice-President of the Organization of Haitian Women. While there, she co-founded the Jean Joseph Industrial School. When the Marshall"s returned to the United States, they founded the Save Haiti Committee to lobby President Herbert Hoover to remove United States. soldiers from Haiti.
Marshall died on February 21, 1941 in Washington, District of Columbia