Lily Ann Granderson

Who is Lily Ann Granderson?

Lily Ann Granderson, born a slave in Virginia in 1816, was a pioneering educator. Lily Ann’s grandmother was a free woman of Native American descent. However, after the death of her grandmother, Lily’s Ann’s mother was sold into slavery at three years of age. Later on in Lily Ann’s life, she was moved to Kentucky and worked as a house slave because of her fair skin. Little was known about Lily Ann’s father. All that is known is that he is a white man that was from one of the First Families of Virginia. Lily Ann and the master’s family became quite close. The master’s children even taught Lily Ann how to read and write.

Tragedy struck for Lily Ann when her master died and she was shipped down the river to Mississippi where she had be sold to another slave master. On this plantation Lily Ann worked in the fields, something she was not accustomed to. In fact, while working in the hot fields of Mississippi, Lily Ann grew ill. Lily Ann begged the slave master to remove her from the field and place her somewhere where the work wasn’t so hard on her health. After much begging, the slave master allowed Lily Ann to work in the kitchen at his home. The slave master’s home was not located directly on the plantation, it was located in town. So everyday, Lily Ann had to make the trip into town but it was a lot better than working in the fields from sun up to sun down.