Math teacher Josephine Gomon of Detroit, Michigan, was described as one of the most influential women in the city’s history. Photo credit: Bentley Historical Society.
Many talented classroom educators become involved in social causes that improve living conditions for everyone in their communities. One is Josephine Gomon, a mathematics teacher from Detroit, Michigan, who was described as one of the most influential women in the city’s history.
Josephine was born on June 29, 1892, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a young woman, she attended the University of Michigan, working her way through college as a switch board operator. In 1913, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, an unusual field for a woman of her day.
Josephine inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a teacher of physics and mathematics at Wayne State University, then known as the College of the City of Detroit. Later, after getting married and having five children, Josephine taught in Detroit city public schools. During those years, she also wrote a regular column about education which was published in The Detroit News.
After two of her close friends died in childbirth, Josephine became actively involved in Detroit’s underground birth control clinics. Later she helped to establish the National Planned Parenthood League, and she became the president of the Detroit Chapter. Josephine was passionate about the welfare of the poor and underprivileged in Detroit, and this passion led to her involvement in politics and to her position as Executive Secretary to Mayor Frank Murphy.
The indefatigable teacher was an activist serving the cause of social justice within the community in many ways. She was a founding member of the ACLU in Michigan, and she worked closely with Clarence Darrow on several Detroit-based civil liberties cases. Later she became an advisor to Franklin Roosevelt. In 1933 Josephine was appointed Secretary Director of the Detroit Housing Commission, where she supervised construction of Detroit’s first public housing projects. During World War II she was named by Henry Ford as the Director of Women Personnel at the Willow Run Bomber Plant. Her success in this position led to her becoming an influencer in organized labor in the area.
Josephine passed away on November 13, 1975, at the age of 83. After her passing, the Detroit Free Press described her as “one of the most influential women in the city’s history.” She was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 1983.
