The Ladies Hall

The Ladies Hall: A Novel of Three Women Who Refused to Be Silenced

Vanessa Miller with her writing has brought little known parts of history to light. In The Ladies Hall, Miller tells the story of three young women who not only go to college in the 1880’s, they take the gentlemen’s courses. And despite everything extra they face because of their skin color, they all excel and are the first Black female bachelor’s degree graduates of Oberlin College.

Miller focuses on Mary and Anna and their ground breaking time at Oberlin College. The book is based on their true story, which Miller talks about in the author’s notes at the back of the book. If you haven’t read any of Miller’s books this is a great one to start with, but read them all. They open up history in ways most of us never knew.