Caroline Still Anderson

The Life and Times of Caroline Still Anderson

November 1, 1847, Caroline Virginia Still, daughter of Letitia and William Still, is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1864, Caroline Still entered Oberlin College at the age of fifteen.

In 1868, Caroline Still is the youngest member of the graduating class at Oberlin College.

December 28, 1869, Caroline Still married Edward A. Wiley, formerly enslaved and also a fellow classmate at Oberlin, at her parents residence. The famous Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield performed at Caroline’s wedding reception that was attended by prominent African Americans like Robert Purvis, Sarah Mapps Douglass and William Whipper as well as white abolitionist Lucretia Mott.

In 1872, Caroline Still Wiley attended lectures in physiology at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.

In 1874, Caroline’s husband, Edward Wiley, died, leaving her with two children, William and Letitia, named after her parents. That same year she moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University College of Medicine. She taught drawing and elocution to support her family.

In 1875, Caroline moved back to Philadelphia and matriculated at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.

In 1878, Caroline Still Wiley graduated from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania with a degree of Doctor of Medicine. She and Georgianna E. Young were the only African Americans to graduate in the 1878 class. Since 1867 when Rebecca Cole graduated, they were the first Blacks to graduate the school.

In 1879, Caroline Still Wiley interned at New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston, Massachusetts for one year. That same year she returned to Philadelphia and established her practice.

In 1880, Caroline Still Wiley married Reverend Matthew Anderson.

In 1888, Caroline served as treasurer for the alumni association of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.

In 1899, Caroline Still Anderson assisted her husband Rev. Matthew Anderson in the establishment of the Berean Institute. She served as assistant principal, instructor of elocution, physiology, and hygiene and supervisor of the dispensary.

In 1919, Caroline Still Anderson died at her home on June 2nd after a series of strokes.

J.A. Hurst, Photographer (Philly); Temple University Libraries, Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection/William Still Collection