Nokutela Dube
| Nokutela Dube | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Nokutela Mdima 1873 Inanda, Natal, South Africa |
| Died |
25 January 1917 Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Cause of death | Kidney infection |
| Education | Inanda Seminary School |
| Occupation | Teacher, preacher |
| Spouse(s) | John Dube |
Nokutela Dube (1873 – 25 January 1917) was the first South African woman to found a school. She was married to John Langalibalele Dube. They both travelled to the United States, where Nokutela was described as a "woman of note". She died after becoming estranged from her husband, who was then President of what would become the African National Congress.
Nokutela Mdima was born in 1873 to Christian converts at a missionary station at Inanda, near Durban. From 1881 she was taught by Ida Wilcox, who was part of a husband and wife team running the mission. Nokutela was a star pupil and an essay she wrote was published in Ida's home town in Minnesota as part of a regular report she made to the press. Nokutela's essay was used to show how the mission was inspiring children to learn English.
After leaving Inanda Seminary School Mdima worked as a teacher, and married John Dube in 1894 in Inanda. John was the son of James Dube who was a minister at Inanda. The couple left South Africa in April 1896 and travelled to Britain, sailing for New York from Southampton in May 1896. By November their story was being reported by the New York Tribune. Her husband was not the only black South African to visit New York, but Nokutela was unusual because she was female. The Los Angeles Times included Nokutela in their feature series "Women of note" on 13 February 1898. The newspapers introduced them as Mr and Mrs John Lindley Dube, and described their pleasing appearance, her ankle-length dress and her husband's double-breasted suit. (This adopted name was the same as that of the missionaries, Daniel and Lucy Lindley, who had established the Inanda mission.) The change in presentation was presumably made to assist American readers who might find John's middle name difficult to pronounce. The papers reported that Nokutela would take a home-making course while her husband would train to join the clergy. Their stated objective was to be more "effective missionaries to the heathen".
While the Dubes were in the US they were inspired by the educator Booker T. Washington, but their main training came from the Union Missionary Training Institute where 30 to 45 Christian missionaries from Europe, Asia, Australia, Arabia, and in this case, Africa studied. This Brooklyn establishment was able to exist because pastors and professors would volunteer their time. While she was in America the Woman's Board of Missions published her story, Africa – The Story of My Life, in 1898.
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