Letha Raney, long-time educator and pioneering principal, served in Southern California public schools

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Long-time teacher and principal Letha Raney was a pioneering educator in the Corona Norco Unified School District located  in Corona, in Southern California. Photo credit: From One Room…The 125-Year History of Corona-Norco-Eastvale Schools.

Many excellent teachers have served students in our nation’s public schools. One of these was Letha Raney, an honored elementary teacher and pioneering principal in Corona in Southern California.

Letha was born in Albany, Oregon, on Nov. 29, 1894. As her young child, she traveled to Corona, California, in a covered wagon with her parents, her sister, and four brothers. The family arrived in Corona by 1897. She attended elementary and secondary schools in the Corona Norco School District. In 1912, graduated as one of 19 members of the first graduating class  from Corona High School.

Once she earned her high school diploma, Letha completed courses in teacher training from Los Angeles State Normal School, which later became UCLA in 1919. She inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position at Rugby School in the Temescal Valley on the outskirts of Corona. By 1918, Letha was working as the principal of Washington Grammar School, the first woman principal in the Corona Norco Unified School District. By 1923, she became the principal of newly-established Corona Junior High School. She served there until her retirement in 1952. (By the way, this is the school where I began my own teaching career in 1981. I taught there for eight years!)

Letha Raney dedicated her entire professional life to educating Corona’s children. In recognition of her work and impact in the community, the Corona Norco School District built a new junior high school in 1966 and dedicated the building as Letha Raney Junior High School in her honor. She attended the cornerstone ceremony for the new school when construction first started. A time capsule was placed in the wall describing her achievements in education, but the capsule has, up to this date, not been opened.

Sadly, this remarkable Chalkboard Champion passed away on Dec. 14, 1983, in Orange, California. She is interred in Corona.

Black History Month developed by educator Carter Godwin Woodson

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Carter Godwin Woodson

Carter Godwin Woodson, the American school teacher who created Black History Month, an annual celebration of the many outstanding contributions African Americans have made to our country. Photo credit: Public Domain

This February, socially conscious teachers all over the United States are launching their classes into Black History Month, an annual celebration of the many outstanding contributions African Americans have made to our country. But did you know that Black History Month, itself, was the brainchild of an American teacher?

Educator Carter Godwin Woodson is credited with organizing and advocating annual Black History Month celebrations in American schools. He is also recognized as the first African American born of enslaved parents to earn a PhD in History. Admittedly, these are noteworthy accomplishments. But there is so much more to this brilliant man’s life story than is usually publicized.

Did you know that, as a youngster, Carter was forced to work on the family farm rather than attend school? Nevertheless, he taught himself to read using the Bible and local newspapers. He didn’t finish high school until he was 20 years old. Did you know that Carter once worked as a coal miner in Fayette County, West Virginia, and then later went back there to teach school to the children of Black coal miners, serving as a model for using education to get out of the mines? Did you know that Carter taught school in the Philippines, and then became the supervisor of schools, which included duties as a trainer of teachers, there? And did you know that he was one of the first to study African American history, to collect data, oral histories, and documents, and to publish his findings in a scholarly magazine he published, The Journal of Negro History? 

To read more about this fascinating historical figure, check out my book, Chalkboard Champions.

Herbert Parmat of NYC was also a successful author of presidential biographies

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High school social studies teacher and college professor Herbert Parmat earned acclaim as the author of many well-received biographies of American presidents. Photo Credit: The Portal to Texas History

Many talented educators have earned acclaim as accomplished authors. One of these is Herbert Parmat, a high school social studies teacher and historian who wrote many well-received biographies of American presidents. In fact, he has been described as a major historian of the American presidency and politics.

Herbert was born on Aug. 28, 1929, in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. As a youngster, he attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York, graduating in 1948. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at State University of New York, Oswego, in 1951, and his Master’s degree from Queens College in 1957. During these years, Herbert also completed a stint in the US Army, where he served from 1952 to 1954, achieving the rank of Corporal.

In the 1960s, Herbert taught social studies at North Babylon High School in Long Island, and then at Mineola High School in Mineola in Long Island. At Mineola, he served as the school’s Social Studies Department. He also taught history courses at the Graduate Center of City University of New York and at Queensborough Community College. By all accounts, Herbert was an outstanding classroom teacher, dynamic and charismatic. When he retired in 1995, the former high school teacher was named a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

While teaching at Mineola, Herbert decided to tackle a writing project with colleague Marie B. Hecht. The pair authored their first biography, Aaron Burr: Portrait of an Ambitious·Man (1967). Together, they also wrote Never Again: A President Runsfor a Third Term: Roosevelt versus Wi/lkie, 1940 (1968). This was followed by a pioneering biography, Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Next, Herbert wrote The Democrats: The Years After FDR (1976). In a return to the biography genre, he authored Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy (1980) and JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (1983). Next, he penned the biographies Richard Nixon and His America (1990) and George Bush: The Life of a Lone Star Yankee (1997). His later works were Presidential Power from the New Deal to the New Right (2002) and a return to an earlier biographical subject in Richard M. Nixon: An American Enigma (2008).

This outstanding educator passed away on Jan. 25, 2017, in Newton, Massachusetts. He was 87 years old. To read more about Herbert Parmat, click on this link to History News Network.

Mary Hatwood Futrell: Teacher, former president of the NEA, and Chalkboard Champion

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Mary Hatwood Futrell, teacher, former president of the NEA, and Chalkboard Champion. Photo credit: Library of Virginia

One of the most amazing Chalkboard Champions I have ever researched is Mary Hatwood Futrell, a high school business teacher from Virginia who was eventually elected president of the National Education Association (NEA).

Mary was born in Altavista, Virginia, on May 24, 1940. Young Mary was raised by a single mother, who worked as a housekeeper and factory worker. When she became an adult, Mary established a relationship with her biological father, a construction worker.

As a teenager, Mary attended Dunbar High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. There she participated in cheerleading, student government, Future Business Leaders of America, and the National Honor Society. After her high school graduation in 1958, Mary enrolled in Virginia State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Education In 1962.

Mary accepted her first position as a teacher at Parker Gray High School, a segregated school located in Alexandria, Virginia. She taught there from 1962 to 1964. In 1965, the young teacher moved to George Washington High School, where she was instrumental in integrating the teaching staff. She taught business courses at George Washington until 1980. While there, Mary pursued her Master’s degree in Secondary Education from George Washington University. She completed the degree requirements in 1968.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Mary was active in the teachers’ union. She worked her way up the ranks, and was eventually elected president of the National Education Association (NEA) in 1983. Only the fourth person of color to be elected to that office, she served there until 1989. During her three terms as NEA president, Mary led the organization to achieve gains in civil and human rights, especially women’s rights. Because of her tireless efforts, the NEA created the Mary Futrell Award to recognize individuals who have made a significant impact on education and on the achievement of equal opportunities for women and girls.

In 1992, this amazing educator joined the faculty of George Washington University. In 1995, she was promoted to Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She also served as the director of the George Washington Institute for Curriculum Standards and Technology. She did all this while earning her doctorate in Education Policy Studies. Mary has also served in a number of other important organizations. She was the president of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession; The Virginia Education Association; Education International; and ERAmerica.

To guide fellow teachers in their search for best practices, the former classroom teacher has published numerous scholarly articles about the pedagogy of teaching. “When the uncapped potential of a student meets the liberating art of a teacher,” Mary once wrote, “a miracle unfolds.”

For her work in education policy and reform, Mary has been awarded numerous honors and awards, including more than 20 honorary degrees. To learn more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see her biography at History Makers.