Teacher and Civil Rights activist Idella Jones Childs was named to the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame. Photo credit: Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame
Many dedicated educators also work towards improving society as a whole. One of these was Idella Jones Childs, an elementary school teacher from Alabama who made a significant contribution to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
Idella was born on June 21, 1903, in Perry County, Alabama. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Alabama State University, and her teaching certificate from Lincoln Normal School. She inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position to teach algebra, biology, social studies, and history in segregated Perry County schools. Her career as an educator there spanned the next 35 years.
All her life, this amazing teacher was a tireless advocate for the equality and dignity of all people. During the Civil Rights Movement, she even volunteered her home in Marion to be a meeting place for activists.
In 1982, Idella founded the Perry County Arts and Humanities Council, an organization which provided the children of her rural county with a variety of cultural experiences. She was also a member of the Perry County Retired Teachers Association, the Girl Scouts, the Marion Perry County Library Board, the Alabama Black Heritage Council.
As if all that were not enough, in 1985, she was appointed to fill an unexpired term on the Marion City Council, the first African American woman to serve on that entity. She was 79 years old at the time. In the next election, she was elected in her own right to continue in the position.
For her work in the classroom, the community, and the Civil Rights Movement, Idella earned many accolades. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter named her an honorary member of the National Commission on the International Year of the Child. In 1993, when NASA was commemorating the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, she earned their Unsung Heroes Award. In addition, in her name, the Alabama Historical Commission’s Black Heritage Council distributes an annual award known as the Idella Childs Distinguished Service Award. The honor “recognizes people who have contributed to the preservation of African American historic places.” She was also inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.
Idella Jones Childs passed away at the age of 85 on August 8, 1998, in the county where she had spent so many years as a teacher. She is buried at Marion Cemetery in Marion in Perry County, Alabama.
