Lucy Addison of Virginia: For her many contributions to education this amazing woman has been honored as one of Virginia’s Women in History.

There have been many fine African American educators in American history. One of these is Lucy Addison, a teacher and principal from Roanoke, Virginia. For her many contributions to education, this amazing woman has been honored as one of Virginia’s Women in History.

Lucy was born the daughter of slaves in Upperville, Fauquier County, Virginia, on Dec. 8, 1861. Once her family was emancipated, Lucy’s father purchased land and established a farm. Lucy enrolled in the local school.

As a young woman, Lucy attended the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. The Institute was a private school with a reputation for offering a faculty of exceptionally talented Black educators. Lucy earned her teaching degree there in 1882. She took additional courses at Howard University, Hampton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, even though it was difficult for her to come up with the tuition money to pay for the classes.

In spite of racial prejudice, inadequate facilities, and barriers to her advancement, Lucy dedicated her life to a career in education. After she graduated, Lucy returned to her home state of Virginia where she accepted a position in Loudoun County. In 1886, she relocated to Roanoke to teach at the First Ward Colored School.

In 1917, Lucy accepted a position as the principal for the Harrison School. One of her students there remembered that she was prim and proper in appearance, but fair and approachable. The Harrison School was accredited to teach up to grade eight, but under Lucy’s direction, high school level courses were introduced into the curriculum. By 1924, the school had earned accreditation as a high school. The facility became the first school in Roanoke to offer a high school diploma to African Americans.

Lucy retired in 1927 and moved to Washington, DC. She passed away on Nov. 13, 1937, of chronic nephritis. She is interred in National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this link to Encyclopedia Virginia.

Black History Month originated by educator Carter Godwin Woodson.

This February, educators all over the country are sharing Black History Month with their students. The observance is an annual celebration of the many important  contributions African Americans have made to our society. But did you know that Black History Month, itself, was the brainchild of a brilliant American teacher?

Educator Carter Godwin Woodson (1875-1950)  is credited with organizing and advocating annual Black History Month celebrations in American schools, starting in 1926. Certainly this is an admirable accomplishment in and of itself, but there is so much more to learn about this outstanding educator.

Did you know that, as a youngster, Carter was forced to work on the family farm rather than attend school? Nevertheless, he taught himself to read using the Bible and local newspapers. He didn’t finish high school until he was 20 years old. Did you know that he once worked as a coal miner in Fayette County, West Virginia, and then later went back there to teach school to the children of Black coal miners, serving as a personal role model for using education to get out of the mines? And did you know that Carter taught school in the Philippines, and then became the supervisor of schools, which included duties as a trainer of teachers, there?

This Chalkboard Champion was one of the first to study African American history, to collect data, oral histories, and documents, and to publish his findings in a scholarly magazine he published, The Journal of Negro History. For these accomplishments, and many more, Carter Godwin Woodson has been called the “Father of Black History.”

To read more about this fascinating historical figure, check out the chapter I have written about him in my first book, Chalkboard Champions.