Willella Highgate was an African American woman from Syracuse, New York. She was the daughter of teacher Hannah Highgate and the sister of teacher Edmonia Highgate.
It is unclear exactly when Willella Highgate taught at Darlington. In a December, 1865, letter to the American Missionary Association, Willella announced that she had received an invitation to teach at Louisville, Kentucky. In that letter, she referred to her previous teaching experience as an assistant teacher at Binghamton, N.Y. and Montrose, Pa., and teaching “last summer” at Darlington, Md. Hannah Highgate replaced her daughter Willella in April, 1865, and was still at the school in mid-August, 1865. In September, Mary Watson arrived to take over the school, remaining there until 1869. It is therefore difficult to fit Willella into the timeline as the primary teacher at Darlington. Perhaps Willella acted as assistant to or co-teacher with her mother during all or part of her Hannah's tenure at Darlington, filled in for her during an illness or absence, or succeeded her there briefly before the arrival of Mary Watson.
In August of 1868, Willella Highgate wrote to the A.M.A. from Albany, N.Y., expressing interest in teaching in the South again. As this is one of only two letters from Willella in the A.M.A. collection of letters received, it is unclear whether or not the organization employed her again after her brief time in Maryland in 1865.
