* Civil rights activist and educator
* First African-American woman to earn a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College
* First African-American woman to serve on the board of the NAACP
* Founded the National Association of Colored Women
* Worked for women's suffrage and civil rights
* Served on the board of directors of the National Woman's Party
* Served on the board of trustees of the Howard University Board
* Served as president of the National Association of College Women
* Served as president of the National Council of Negro Women
* Wrote two autobiographies, "A Colored Woman in a White World" (1940) and "Overcoming Obstacles" (1946)
* Awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1928
* Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Harry S. Truman in 1950