Born: 2 June 1868, Sierra Leone
Died: 24 January 1960
Country most active: Sierra Leone
Also known as: Adelaide Smith
Sierra Leone activist, teacher and fiction writer Adelaide Casely-Hayford advocated for the Creole community, cultural nationalism, feminism and education for women and girls. She was a proponent of Pan-Africanism and feminist politics in the early 1900s, opening a girls vocational and training school in Freetown in 1923 to promote cultural and racial pride among Sierra Leoneans under British colonial rule.
Born to an elite mixed-race family in Freetown while Sierra Leone was still occupied by the British, Casely-Hayford and her sisters grew up primarily in England, attending Jersey Ladies’ College (laterJersey College for Girls). She would later encourage parents to raise their children in Sierra Leone, with pride in their home country and cultural identity.
Casely-Hayford travelled widely, which led to her interest in Pan-Africanist politics. In a 1905 speech, she advocated for the importance of African women in social and political advancement. She returned to Africa with her husband, to the Gold Coast (now Ghana), in 1896. The marriage ended in 1914, at which point Casely-Hayford returned to Sierra Leone. Their daughter, Gladys May Casely-Hayford, would go on to become a teacher, artist and poet.
She joined the Ladies Division of the Freetown branch of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which espoused racial pride and international cooperation to improve the lives of people of African descent around the world. She entwined this with feminism, challenging male supremacy and advocating for women’s rights in speeches and writing. Although she rose to the role of president, she resigned from the UNIA in 1920 over a conflict of interest between the organisation and her proposed girls’ school. Her activism included touring the United States to give lectures, correcting misconceptions about Africa.
When it opened in 1923, her Girls’ Vocational School was one of few educational opportunities for girls in the country, and was even more unique for teaching girls African history and encouraged confidence, leadership skills, independent critical thinking and financial independence. She also caused a stir in 1925 when she wore traditional African dress to a 1925 reception for the Prince of Wales.
In her later years, Casely-Hayford write her memoirs and short stories, one of which (Mista Courier) was included in Langston Hughes’ African Treasury: Articles, Essays, Stories, Poems (1960).