English teacher and counselor Norma Snipes Marcere of Canton, Ohio, served as a pioneer of Civil Rights for women and people of color in her community. Photo Credit: The Repository

I always enjoy sharing stories about dedicated and forward-thinking educators who have served as pioneers of Civil Rights in their communities. Norma Snipes Marcere, a teacher and school psychologist from Ohio, was one such educator.

Norma was born on Oct. 21, 1908, in Canton, Ohio. She attended high school at Canton McKinley in 1926. After her graduation from high school, Norma worked her way through college to earn her Bachelor’s degree in 1929 in Elementary Education from Kent State University. She also earned a Master’s degree in Counseling there.

Once she completed her education, Norma applied for a teaching position in her home town of Canton. Unfortunately, a bigoted superintendent refused to hire her because she was an African American. Because of this incident, Norma declared her intention to work tirelessly for the rest of her life to advance the Civil Rights of women and people of color.

When she was denied employment in Canton, Norma went to Massillon, Ohio, where she accepted her first teaching position at Edmund A. Jones Junior High School. There she taught English. Later she moved to the Akron City School District, where she became the first African American counselor and school psychologist in the district. During her lengthy career, Norma founded Project Academic Excellence (PAX), a Saturday school run completely by volunteers to help inner-city minority students succeed in their academics. The program emphasized high expectations and tutored students in basic subjects, study skills, and ethnic cultures.

In 1976, Norma retired from the teaching profession and authored not one, but two, autobiographies. The first was ‘Round the Dining Room Table, published in 1985, and the second, The Fences Between, was published in 1989. In 1994, these autobiographies were transformed into a play by Lois DiGiacomo which was performed in front of an audience of more than 12,000 people.

The former teacher earned other accolades for her work in the classroom. In 1973, the Junior League named her their Woman of the Year. In 1980, she was awarded an honorary PhD from Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. In 1991, she garnered the Norma Award, an honor named after Norma Sigler Atkins Rowlands. In 1998, she earned the Sister Thea Bowman Medallion from the Office for Black Catholic Ministries of the Diocese of Toledo. In 1985, the Chalkboard Champion was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.

Norma Snipes Marcere passed away on Aug. 20, 2004, in Louisville, Ohio. She was 95 years old.