Educator Lois Carson worked tirelessly for the underprivileged

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Many educators have dedicated their entire careers to helping underprivileged segments of society. This is the case with Lois Carson, who served the African American and lower-income communities all her life. Photo credit: San Bernardino Valley College

There are many talented and dedicated classroom educators who have dedicated their entire careers to helping underprivileged segments of society. This is certainly the case with Lois Carson, a long-time teacher who served the African American and lower-income communities all her life.

Lois was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where she attended St. Augustine Catholic High School. As the valedictorian of her school, she won several scholarships, including a prestigious scholarship from the United Negro College Fund. After her high school graduation, Lois enrolled in Wilberforce University, the first private historically Black university in America.

After her marriage, Lois relocated with her husband to Southern California. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Cal State San Bernardino (CSUSB) in 1967. That year, she was a member the first graduating class of the campus. Later, she earned two Master’s degrees, one in English and one in Education, from the University of California, Riverside (UCR).

Lois accepted her first position as a teacher for Upward Bound through the UCR. Upward Bound is an organization that helps low-income high school students prepare for college. Later Lois served as a Director of the organization, and she also served a stint as the Deputy Director of the San Bernardino County Community Action Partnership. She also served as an Executive Director of a similar organization in Riverside County. While there, Lois built partnerships with organizations and networks that served low-income families, including the Riverside County Consortium for Early Learning Services and the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition.

For 24 years, Lois serve on the San Bernardino Community College District Board, including seven years on the national board of the Association of Community College Trustees. While in that position, Lois worked tirelessly to increase access by minority students to the nursing program. In fact, she was selected as the top trustee in the United States by that organization.

As if all this were not enough, Lois found time to establish the San Bernardino County Status of Women Commission, the Inland Empire section of the National Council of Negro Women, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Peter Claver, and Black Future Leaders.

For her tireless work as a public servant, Lois received the Lyndon Baines Johnson Human Services Award in 2007. The following year she was named Woman of the Year in California’s 62nd District by Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter. She has also been honored as a Distinguished Alumna by bother CSUSB and UCR. Also, she was inducted into the San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) Alumni Hall of Fame in 1997.

Sadly, Lois Carson passed away on July 14, 2021. She was 90 years old. To read more about her, see this biography published about her by SBVC.

Dedicated teacher and activist Elizabeth Almira Allen of NJ

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Elizabeth Almira Allen

Dedicated teacher and activist Elizabeth Almira Allen of New Jersey. Photo credit: New Jersey Women’s Association.

There are many examples of dedicated teachers who have worked tirelessly to improving the benefits and conditions of the teaching profession. One such teacher who exemplifies this is the activist Elizabeth Almira Allen of New Jersey.

Elizabeth Allen was born in Joliet, Illinois, on February 27, 1854. She was the oldest of five children born to James and Sarah Allen. Her father was a Civil War veteran. Her family lived for brief periods in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, but by 1867, they settled in New Jersey.

Elizabeth was only 13 years old when she enrolled in the Model School of Trenton, a facility associated with the State Normal School. The college is now known as Trenton State College. Two years later, Elizabeth graduated from the institution. She began teaching in Atlantic City. In 1871, she transferred to a position in Hoboken, New Jersey. In a career that spanned 48 years, she taught in the classroom and served as the principal of local elementary and high schools. She also supervised the training of new teachers at Hoboken Normal and Training School.

Throughout her career, Elizabeth worked tirelessly as a teachers’ rights advocate. In 1913, she became the first woman President of the New Jersey Education Association. In this role, she argued for tenure laws, disability benefits, and pensions for teachers.

This amazing educator could speak German and French fluently, and some Russian and Italian. She was an avid student of history. In addition, she published a book of poems entitled Golden Nails to Hang Memories On (1890) which detailed the accomplishments of famous people. Despite her limited means, she loved to travel, and made many cross-Atlantic voyages. She also visited Canada, Alaska, Central America, and Algiers.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away from congestive heart failure on May 3, 1919, at the age of 65. She is buried in Boonton, Morris County, New Jersey. You can read more about her in Pedagogies of Resistance: Women Educator Activists by Margaret Crocco and Petra Munro Henry, available on amazon.

Idaho’s Bert Marley: Distinguished teacher, politician, and farmer

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Bert Marley, a long-time educator from Idaho, has also served in both his state’s Senate and House of Representatives. Photo credit: Bert Marley

Many fine educators also make dedicated politicians. This is true of Bert Marley, a high school teacher and farmer who has also served as a state senator in his home state of Idaho.

Bert was born on May 1, 1948, in Provo, Utah. As a young man, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in German from Idaho State University in 1973, and his Master’s degree in Education from Utah State University in 1996.

In 1984, Bert inaugurated his career as a teacher at Marsh Valley High School in Marsh Valley, Bannock County, Idaho. He instructed courses in Social Studies, German, World History, and mythology. His career there spanned 23 years. Many of his former students have said that this distinguished educator sparked their curiosity and thirst for knowledge. In addition to his work in the classroom,  since 1984 Bert has been a member of the Idaho Education Association (IEA). He even served as that organization’s Directory of Public Policy.

As a Democrat, Bert entered politics when he made a bid for a seat representing the 33rd District in the Idaho House of Representatives. He won the election, and served in that body from 1998 to 2001. He extended his career in politics when he was elected to the Idaho State Senate, where he served from 2001 to 2006. There he represented first the 33rd District, and then the 29th District. Bert then served as the Chair of the Idaho State Democratic Party, a position he held from 2015 to 2019.

As if all this were not enough, Bert also owns and runs a family farm in McCammon, Idaho. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this article printed by the IEA.

Alaska teacher and capable politician Mary Becker

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Hardworking and dedicated educator and capable politician Mary Becker of Juneau, Alaska. Photo credit: Alaska Public Media.

Often hardworking and dedicated educators also make fine politicians. This is certainly the case with Mary Becker, a distinguished teacher and politician from Juneau, Alaska.

Mary graduated from Sitka High School, and then she enrolled Albertson College of Idaho, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education.

After earning her degree, Mary returned to Alaska, where she taught school from 1967 to 1997, a career that spanned 30 years. For her work in the classroom, Mary garnered recognition with the MacKennon Educational Excellence and Human Award.During those years, she served as the President, Chief Negotiator, Building Rep, Political Action Chair, and Grievance Chair for the Juneau Education Association. She has also been a long-time member of the National Education Association.

In addition to her work as an educator, Mary was elected to be a member of the Juneau School Board in 1998, a post she occupied for nine years. During her those years, she served the Board diligently as President, Vice President, and Clerk. Next, the retired educator served in the Assembly for nine years, from 2010 to 2019. During her time in the Assembly, Mary served terms as the city’s  Mayor and Deputy Mayor. In these positions, she served on many committees, including Finance, Committee of the Whole, Chair of the Lands Committee, and Chair of the School Facility Project Team. She was also the Liaison to the Chamber of Commerce, the Docks and Harbors Board, and the UAS Campus Council. From 2015 to 2016, the capable former teacher served as Interim Mayor of the city of Juneau.

In addition to this important work, Mary has been involved in many community improvement efforts. These include Juneau Poetry Out Loud, the Kids Voting Board of Directors, the League of Women Voters, the Olympic Torch Relay Committee, the Seward Statue Committee Co-Chair, the Social Services Advisory Board Chair, the Southeast Alaska Health Education Council, the Juneau Rotary, and the United Way of Southeast Alaska.

 

Pernella Anderson: Teacher and prominent folklorist

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Arkansas teacher Pernella Anderson collected oral histories under the auspices of the Federal Writers’ Project during the 1930’s.

Many talented educators come to be known for accomplishments outside of the classroom. One of these is Pernella Anderson, an elementary teacher who worked in Arkansas and Michigan who was also important as a collector of African American folklore.

Pernella Mae Center Anderson was born April 12, 1903 in Camden, Arkansas. She was the youngest of ten children born to Willis and Sallie (Washington) Center. Her father was a carpenter and her mother was a homemaker.

When Pernella grew up, she married Theodore Haynie, Jr., (circa 1920) and three children were born to the couple. Between 1922-1924, the young mother attended Arkansas Baptist College, where she earned a degree in liberal arts. Evidently, Pernella divorced Theodore and, on April 21, 1931, she married her second husband, William W. Anderson.

In 1935, Pernella accepted a teaching position in Lockesburg in Sevier County, Arkansas. The following year, she went to work for the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP), an organization associated with the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration (WPA). Pernella’s work there included collecting oral histories, some of which were published in the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves (1941). Additionally, she collected the folk stories of Black residents ranging in age from 19 to 92. Pernella was one of only two African Americans hired to do this work.

A lifelong learner, Pernella went back to school in 1944 to earn her teaching certificate, and then she completed the requirements for her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana. From 1953-1955, Pernella taught school at Carver Elementary School in El Dorado in Arkansas’ Union County. In 1955, Pernella moved to Detroit, Michigan, and there she taught in Detroit public schools until the conclusion of her career.

This talented teacher and folklorist passed away on March 5, 1980, in Detroit. She is interred in Westlawn Cemetery in the town of Wayne, Wayne County, Michigan.

You can read more about this remarkable educator at this link: Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. To learn more about the Federal Writers’ Project, click on this link: FWP at the Library of Congress.