High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (August 10, 1858 – February 27, 1964) was an author, educator, speaker and one of the most prominent African American scholars in United States history. Upon receiving her Ph.D in history from the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1924, Cooper became the fourth African American woman to earn a doctoral degree. She was also a prominent member of Washington, D.C.`s African American community.