She succeeded Victoria Earle Matthews as superintendent of the White Rose Mission in New York City, and was academic dean of the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute alongside school founder Mary McLeod Bethune.

Victoria Earle Matthews brought her back to New York to work at the White Rose Mission, a Christian residence, kindergarten, library, and community center.

[1] She taught English, Dramatics, Public Speaking, and Latin courses at the school, and was the institution's bookkeeper as well.

[9] She founded and was administrator of Keyser Elementary School, part of the Bethune-Cookman College educational offerings.

[10] While in New York, Keyser counted Hubert Harrison, and Paul Laurence Dunbar among her friends and colleagues.