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Nellie Ramsey Leslie

Dates not recorded

United States

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Biography

Nellie A. Ramsey Leslie (better known as N.A.R. Leslie; née Coles; c. 1840s-c. 1920s) was notable as a teacher, musician and composer, working in Louisiana and Mississippi, and then in Indian Territory and Corpus Christi, Texas, where she founded a musical conservatory for girls. Born into slavery in Virginia, after emancipation she gained schooling in Ohio and moved to Louisiana to teach for the Freedmen's Bureau. She attended the Normal School of Straight University and gained further training as a teacher. Teaching in Louisiana, Mississippi, Indian Territory, and Texas, Leslie educated freedmen and their children.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-20

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