Elementary school teacher Lela Lee Williams of Dallas, Texas.
Over the years, the state of Texas has produced many exceptional educators. One of these is Lela Lee Williams, an elementary school teacher from Wills Point, Texas.
Lela was born in July, 1883, in Wills Point. Her family greatly valued education, and both her father and grandfather were elected trustees of the local school board multiple times.
Lela earned her teaching certificate at Sam Houston Normal Institute located in Huntsville, Texas. She inaugurated her teaching career at Wills Point Elementary School. During her summers, she taught primary methodology and speech in normal schools and other teacher training schools in eastern and northern Texas.
In 1907, Lela moved to Louisiana to become the acting principal and a primary teacher of an elementary school there. When she learned that the Dallas Board of Education selected her to a position on their Board of Education, she relocated to Dallas. She remained there from 1908 until her retirement in 1953.
During the years she was teaching, the exceptional educator was continuously honing her professional skills. She earned a Bachelor’s degree at North Texas State Normal College. She earned her Master’s degree from the Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley. In addition, she completed graduate courses in primary methods and speech at the University of Chicago, the University of Colorado, and Teachers College in Columbia University in New York City.
Throughout her long career, Lela also participated in many educational organizations. In 1917 she was elected the first president of the newly-formed Dallas Grade Teachers Association. In 1919 she was instrumental in organizing the Texas Grade Teachers Association, and she was elected the group’s first president. In 1920, she was elected president of the Texas State Teachers Association. It was while serving in that capacity that she met Dr. Annie Webb Blanton, who was then State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The pair became two of the original founders of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (DKG) in 1929. DKG is an organization which still endeavors today to promote the professional development of women educators.
Sadly, Lela Lee Williams passed away on Feb. 19, 1974, near Dallas, Texas. She is interred at Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.
To read more about this chalkboard champion, see her biography on DKG’s web page at Lela Lee Williams.