New York’s Mary Eato: Dedicated educator and hard-working suffragist

Posted on by

Teachers are typically among those citizens who work the hardest for the benefit of society as a whole. One of these teachers is Mary Eato, an African American educator who also fought valiantly for women’s suffrage.

Mary Eato (who is also known as Mary Eaton) was born in New York City, New York, on Sept. 23, 1844. Mary was the daughter of Sarah Jane Eato, a dressmaker, and Timothy Eato, a Methodist preacher. Marys childhood was rough. As an African American, she battled rampant racism. And when her father died in 1854, her mother was left to raise their seven children alone.

In Jul, 1861, Mary earned her teaching certificate from a New York normal school. She was the only African American graduate in her class. She was only 16 years old when she began teaching elementary students in New York City’s “colored schools.” She taught first at Grammar School No. 3 on 41st Street and later at Grammar School No. 80 on 42nd St.

Intent upon honing her professional skills, Mary went back to school where, in 1891, she earned a Master’s degree in Pedagogy from the University of the City of New York.

While teaching, Mary met Sarah Garnet, the first African American woman to become a school principal in New York City. Garnet founded the Colored Women’s Equal Suffrage League of Brooklyn. Mary joined the organization, and even served as its vice president in 1908. The group worked tirelessly to abolish both gender and race bias in New York City.

In her role as vice president, Mary presided over most of the meetings and events of the Equal Suffrage League which took place during her tenure. She helped the club organize a celebration in honor of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. She regularly invited speakers to address the group about topics related to women’s suffrage. She organized the formal readings of papers or poems, and the singing of women’s suffrage songs. She also organized a vote to accept an invitation to work with the Inter-Urban Association, an organization in New York that coordinated the efforts of 23 local clubs to work together for womens suffrage.

In addition to her membership in the Equal Suffrage League, the dedicated educator was a longtime member of St. Mark’s Methodist Episcopal Church. For a time she served as the church’s treasurer. She also held offices in St. Mark’s Mutual Aid Society, the New York African Society for Mutual Relief, and a branch of the African American Council. In addition, Mary helped establish and run the Hope Day Nursery for Colored Children, which was founded in 1902. For many years Mary served vice president of that organization.

In all, Mary devoted 44 years to the classroom. She retired in 1904. This chalkboard champion passed away on Feb. 8, 1915. She was 70 years old.

To learn more about the work of Mary Eato, read this article by Susan Goodier and Karen Pastorello published by The Gotham Center for New York City History.

Teacher Samuel Youngs: The inspiration behind Washington Irving’s character Ichabod Crane

Posted on by

History abounds with school teachers who have earned fame outside of the classroom. This is true of Samuel Youngs, an American school teacher who was a close friend of famous American author Washington Irving. In fact, scholars speculate that Samuel served as the inspiration for the character of Ichabod Crane in Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

7051406_117574152061Samuel Youngs was born December 4, 1760. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a lieutenant in the 4th New York Infantry Regiment led by Baron Frederick von Weissenfels. Throughout the war, Samuel served the fledgling American army as a guide over the roads and trails in the county around his home. He was one of a dozen native soldiers known as The Westchester Guides. His father’s farmhouse, located near the intersection of Bradhurst Avenue and Grasslands Road in Eastview, was the scene of a British raid during the Revolution.

After the war was won, Samuel served as a Federalist member of the New York State Assembly from 1796-1797, 1809, and 1810. Additionally, Samuel served as a Surrogate of Westchester County in 1800, 1807, 1810, 1811, and 1819.

The intrepid school teacher and veteran passed away on September 12, 1839. He was originally buried in the yard of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow in New York. There he was honored with other citizens of Tarrytown who fought during the Revolutionary War. His service was recognized with a monument, pictured at left. The inscription at the bottom of the monument reads: “This monument is erected by Major General Aaron Ward, 9 division, N.Y.S.M. in testimony of his high appreciation of the services of a brave officer and a true patriot.” In 1851, Samuel’s remains were relocated to the Dale Cemetery in Ossining, New York. He was the first person to be buried in that cemetery.

To read more, click on this link about Samuel Youngs.

Cecilia Chung: Hawaii’s 2020 State Teacher of the Year.

Posted on by

Sixth grade teacher Cecilia Chung has just been named the 2020 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year.

Congratulations go to Cecilia Chung of Ewa Beach, Hawaii! She has just been named her state’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

Cecilia currently teaches sixth grade teacher at Ka’imiloa Elementary School in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. She has taught there since 2013. For the previous two years, this talented educator served her school as their technology integration coach for grades K-6.

The honored educator says she began integrating technology into her lesson plans when she was asked to pilot a 1:1 Chromebook Initiative in her classroom. She confesses that she loves to use technology to draw out student ownership and empowerment. To do this, she says she uses G-Suite Apps, game-based learning, BreakoutEDU, and project-based learning.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Cecilia is a mentor and inspiration to her fellow educators. She has organized and led a variety of workshops for the educational community. She has been featured at the Schools of the Future Conference, EdCamp for West O’ahu, and the Ed Tech Conference for Kamehameha Schools. Cecilia has also been named a Hawai’i State Teacher Fellow. In this role, she works with public school teachers to improve their leadership skills, to empower them, and to elevate the teaching profession.

Cecilia earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California in 2013. She earned a Master’s degree in Elementary Education at Johns Hopkins University in 2015. She has also completed study abroad courses through Meiji University in Japan (2010) and Yonsei University in Korea (2012).

To read more about Cecilia, click on this link to her story on the web page for the Hawaii Sate Department of Education. You can also view this short YouTube video below.