Editing Caroline LeCount (section)

== Background and Education ==

Caroline Rebecca LeCount was born on March 29, 1846, in Philadelphia, into a family whose relative prosperity and education distinguished them within Black Philadelphia. Her father James LeCount ran an oyster house and later a funeral business, his entrepreneurship providing the resources that his children's education required. Her own education at the Institute for Colored Youth, where she encountered Octavius Catto who was both student and later teacher, prepared her for the teaching career that would span her professional life.<ref name="silcox">{{cite book |last=Silcox |first=Harry C. |title=Nineteenth Century Philadelphia Black Militant: Octavius V. Catto |year=2001 |publisher=University Press of America |location=Lanham}}</ref>

Her graduation from ICY and her subsequent teaching there placed her among Black Philadelphia's educated elite whose achievements challenged racist assumptions about Black incapacity. Her relationship with Catto, who shared her commitment to education and civil rights, created partnership that his murder would sever before marriage could formalize it. Her engagement to one of Black Philadelphia's most prominent leaders placed her at the center of the community's activism.<ref name="biddle"/>

Her own activism, independent of her connection to Catto, demonstrated commitment that his influence may have reinforced but did not create. Her education, her family background, and her own determination combined to produce activist engagement that her personal relationships supported but did not generate.<ref name="silcox"/>