Maudelle Tanner Brown Bousfield was born in St Louis, MO in 1885. Both her parents, Charles Brown and Arrena Tanner Brown were educators.  Maudelle attended the Kunkel Conservatory of Music in her youth in St Louis.  In 1903 she enrolled in the University of Illinois and was the first Africa- American woman graduate in 1906.  She graduated with honors with degrees in mathematics and astronomy.  Upon moving to Chicago, Bousfield earned a Master’s degree in education from the University of Chicago.

In 1927, Bousfield became the first African-American school principal in the Chicago Public Schools and in 1939 the first African-American high school principal in the same district. She passed away in 1971 and in 2013, a new residence hall at the University of Illinois was named Bousfield Hall in her honor.