Category Archives: Education

1960’s Mississippi Freedom Schools helped Black Americans in the Deep South vote

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Freedom Schools were opened in southern states as part of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The most famous ones were established in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964. Photo credit: Civil Rights Teaching

The anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington today gives us the opportunity to think about the courageous and dedicated teachers, both Black and White, who tirelessly worked towards creating a more equal society in our country. Some of them dedicated their teaching expertise to teach in Freedom Schools during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, particularly during the Freedom Summer of 1964.

Freedom schools were the brainchild of New York City math teacher Bob Moses, an African American educator with unique vision. Under his direction, these alternative schools were organized and staffed by White political activists, teachers, and college students. They came from all over the United States to participate in the endeavor.

The goal of the summer program was to empower disenfranchised African American community to register to vote and to exercise their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights to political participation. Volunteers also hoped to help bridge some of the gap created by educational neglect. The neglect had long been rampant in states ruled by Jim Crow laws. Both Black and White citizens realized that only through education and participation in the democratic process could African Americans ever hope to improve their lot.

The enterprise was not without danger. On the first day of Freedom Summer, three volunteers involved in the program—Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney—disappeared. They were investigating the firebombing of the church facility in Mississippi designated for their voter recruitment activities. Six weeks later, the badly beaten and bullet-ridden bodies of the three missing men were discovered buried in an earthen dam in nearby Neshoba County, Mississippi.

To learn more about freedom schools and Freedom Summer, click on this link to the History Channel.

Teacher Irene Hartley taught school out of her suitcase in a migrant camp

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There are many fine teachers in American history who invested their time, effort, and talent in contributing to their communities. One of them was Irene Hartley, who established a school for migrant children in California.

In 1938, in California’s Kern County, there were no schools for migrant children because state school officials believed migrant children didn’t live in the state long enough to enroll.

But Irene Hartley, a former teacher from Oklahoma who had relocated to California to pick cotton, opened a school with a suitcase. Her suitcase contained: eight books, twelve pencils, thirty sheets of paper, and a small blackboard that folded in half.

The photo above, snapped by famous Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange, shows Irene teaching fourteen migrant children sitting on the ground under a cottonwood tree beside a migrant labor camp. In the photo, she holds open a book entitled “The Story of America” and the children are leaning forward to see because there is only one book. Her suitcase is open on the ground, serving as her desk.
Irene volunteered to teach every afternoon from 4 PM to 6 PM after picking cotton all day from 5 AM to 3 PM. She conducted lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic to children ages 5 to 13 who had not been able to attend school for more than 6 months. Some of them had not been to school in two years.
In Kern County in 1938, there were more than 15,000 migrant children who had no school. About 2,000 were enrolled, but more than 13,000 worked in fields or lived in tents. Irene’s school had a rule: any child who came for lessons had to teach another child what they learned that day. So 14 children became 28, then 42. Irene kept attendance on the inside of her suitcase lid with chalk: “Feb 8 — 14 present — 2 absent picking peas.”
In 1939, the state finally opened a migrant school in a tent. Irene was hired as its first teacher. She was paid $90 a month. The amount was more money than she ever made picking cotton.

She kept her suitcase. It is now in the Smithsonian.

 

Joseph Murillo: CA teacher and consummate athletic coach

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Chino High School teacher Joseph Murillo was also a consummate athletic coach. Photo credit: Chino ChampionPhoto credit: Chino Champion

Many fine educators also make superlative athletic coaches. One of these was Joseph Murillo, a science teacher and basketball coach from Chino, California.

Joseph was born on Sept. 18, 1945, in the town of El Refugio in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. When he was only ten years old, he came to the United States with his family and the group settled in Chino, California. He attended public schools and graduated from Chino High School in 1965.

“As a young man, Joe showed preternatural skill for virtually any game that requires hand-eye coordination,” reads the educator’s obituary, “but he particularly excelled at basketball. A lank point guard who sometimes jumped center, Joe’s team’s home games often drew large crowds and are the stuff of legend.” In 1963 and 1964, Joseph led his team to two Tri-County League Championships and a CIF playoff. In his honor, the Chino High School gymnasium floor was dedicated to both Joseph and his high school basketball coach, Frank Elder.

After graduating from high school, Joseph attended first Mt. San Antonio College and then California Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he continued to play basketball. During the summers, he organized recreational programs for children at Richard Gird Elementary School in Chino. He also worked maintaining the Little League baseball fields in the town. He completed the requirements for his Bachelor’s degree in 1972.

In 1974, Joseph inaugurated his career teaching biology to English language learners at his alma mater, Chino High. For many years, he also instructed driver’s training courses. In addition, he coached both boys’ and girls’ basketball. He led the girls’ team to 17 league championships during his nearly 30-year career as Head Coach. He also coached them to CIF Championships in 1981, 1986, and 1988.

For his work as an athletic coach, Joseph earned many accolades. In 2010, he was inducted into the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Chino Valley Unified School District Richard Gird Hall of Fame in 2015, and the CIF-Southern Section Hall of Fame in 2022.

Sadly, Joseph Murillo, consummate educator and coach, passed away on December 18, 2023.