Born on June 18, 1865, in Paris, Kentucky, Anna was the daughter of William Emerson and Sophia Piland Rhodes. She was still very young when her parents moved to Lynchburg, Virginia. As a gifted student at a private school, she was only 13 when she began studying at Shaw University. By 1880, she had earned a BA degree in classics and then began teaching at the school before returning home to continue her career.
Langston, himself a distinguished man of letters and an early relative of Langston Hughes, congratulated her on her command of language and the beauty of her diction when she delivered it. In his estimation, it was among the best he had ever heard. He confessed that he was mesmerized by the words and how well she articulated them.
Moreover, Smith continued, Anna used her poetry to explore themes of a more personal nature, such as love and grief. Her poetry appeared in a number of publications and whenever she recited them, it added to the impact of the words, thereby giving her wider recognition and creating demand for her as a speaker.