Sarah Lee Brown Fleming: Teacher, activist, and author

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Terry Lee Marzell

Sarah Lee Brown Fleming

There are many accomplished educators in American history who have distinguished themselves as community activists. Sarah Lee Brown Fleming, a school teacher from Brooklyn, New York, is one such educator.

Sarah Lee Brown was born in poverty in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 10, 1875. She was raised in Brooklyn, New York. As a young girl, Sarah dreamed of becoming a school teacher. However, her father discouraged this goal, believing that Sarah could only aspire to be a domestic. Little did he know that one day, Sarah would become the first African American teacher in the Brooklyn public school system.

In 1902, Sarah married Richard Stedman Fleming. After their marriage, the couple moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where Richard became the first African American dentist to practice in the state. The union produced two children: a daughter named Dorothy born in 1903, and a son named Harold born in 1906.

An associate of Mary McLeod Bethune, Sarah channeled her energy into bettering the educational opportunities for African American women. She organized the New Haven Women’s Civic League in 1929, and in 1936, she established the Phillis Wheatley Home for Girls, a shelter for young Black women who had just moved to New Haven in search of employment. In fact, Sarah’s work was recognized by Congress in 1955, the same year she received the Sojourner Truth Scroll from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club.

In addition to her civic work, Sarah was also a published playwright, novelist, and poet named as part of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Sarah’s most notable published works are her novel Hope’s Highway, published in 1918, and a collection of poems entitled Clouds and Sunshine, published in 1920.

Sarah passed away in January, 1963, five days before her 87th birthday.

Gifting for Teacher Appreciation Day!

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Terry Lee Marzell

Super Teacher!

Teacher Appreciation Day is just around the corner! When trying to decide just the right gift to give to your friends and family members that are teachers, or that special teacher that works with your child, consider copies of Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history, and the historical implications of their pioneering work. These books make great gifts for individuals in the teaching profession and those aspiring to become teachers some day. They are also appealing to history buffs and social scientists.

Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.

In Chalkboard Heroes, read about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.

All these remarkable stories and more can be shared with someone you know this year on Teacher Appreciation Day!

Frank Caprio: The Former Teacher, Judge, and Television Personality

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Terry Lee Marzell

There are many instances when masterful classroom teachers go on to find success in fields other than education. This is the case with Rhode Island’s Frank Caprio, a former social studies teacher who has earned a reputation as a fine municipal judge and popular television personality.

Frank was born on November 23, 1936, to parents who had immigrated from Italy to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1912. To support the family, the parents sold fruit from a pushcart on Providence’s Federal Hill. As a student in public schools, young Frank contributed income to the family by washing dishes and shining shoes. All during his childhood, Frank’s parents emphasized the value of hard work, the importance of education, and a commitment to service.

After his graduation from Providence’s Central High School, Frank earned his bachelor’s degree from Providence College. After he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science, he accepted a position as a teacher of American history and government at Hope High School, a public high school on the East Side of Providence. The young teacher married and started a family. Then Frank decided he wanted to change careers and study law, so he enrolled in night courses at the Suffolk University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

The former educator began his career in the legal profession in 1965. Since 1985, he has served as a Providence Municipal Court Judge. His court is very popular in Rhode Island as a result of his highly acclaimed television show Caught in Providence, produced by his brother, Joseph Caprio. The show has appeared on a major local TV channel for three years and on a local cable channel for eight years.

Remembering his parents’ encouragement to be of service, Frank has established scholarships to benefit Rhode Island school children. The former educator named his scholarships in honor of his father, a man who had only a fifth grade education but, according to Frank, possessed deep wisdom and great perseverance. Frank also volunteers at local charities such as Boys Town of Italy, the Nickerson House Juvenile Court, and the Federal Hill House.

To recognize Frank’s many years of public service, the Multicultural Center of the University of Rhode Island honored him with its Lifetime Diversity Award. “Judge Caprio is the embodiment of the American dream, a man who understood that education and hard work unlock the doors to success,” expressed Robert L. Carothers, spokesperson for the University of Rhode Island. “Moreover, having succeeded as an individual, he turned his energies to helping others, especially the children of immigrants and minorities, find access to educational opportunities that would allow them to pass through those same doors,” Carothers concluded.

Read more about Frank at the link Judge Caprio or about his television show at Caught in Providence.

Clarence Acox, Jr.: Music instructor extraordinaire

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Terry Lee Marzell

There are many gifted musicians who share their extensive talents with fortunate students in the classroom. One such musician is Clarence Acox, Jr., a high school music teacher and jazz musician who resides in Seattle, Washington.

Clarence was born in October, 1947, in New Orleans. As a youngster, he attended Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School in Treme, Louisiana. After his high school graduation, he enrolled at Southern University, a historically Black university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He graduated in 1971.

After his college commencement, the young graduate accepted a position as a music instructor at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. Famed musicians Jimi Hendrix, Ishmael Butler, Quincy Jones, and Ernestine Anderson are all Garfield alumni. Under Clarence’s capable leadership, the high school’s Jazz Ensemble has captured the first place title two times at New York’s Essentially Ellington National Jazz Band Competition and Festival at New York City’s Lincoln Center (2003, 2004). This competition is the nation’s most prestigious high school jazz band competition. Additionally, under his expert tutelage, the Garfield High School Band has traveled to Europe on eleven tours, attending music festivals in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.

In addition to his work in the classroom, Clarence performs regularly on the jazz nightclub scene in Seattle. He is a member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1995 with Michael Brockman, a saxophone instructor with the University of Washington. In addition, Clarence is the director of the Jazz Ensemble representing Seattle University.

For his outstanding work in the classroom, Clarence has earned many prestigious awards. In 1991, he was honored as the Musician of the Year by the Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle. He was named Educator of the Year by Down Beat Magazine in 2001, and in 2003 he garnered the Impact Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), an organization best known for presenting the Grammy Awards each year. In 2004, Clarence was named Outstanding Music Educator by the Seattle Music Educators Association, and in 2011, he was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame. Additionally, in May, 2016, Clarence was recognized with an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

To learn more about this remarkable educator and musician, click on JazzJournalists.org or BlackPast.org.

Students, educators, and concerned citizens attend March for Our Lives rallies

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Terry Lee Marzell

All over the country today thousands of Americans expressed their demands for common sense gun reform in coordinated March for Our Lives rallies that took place in many cities throughout the nation, large and small. Organized entirely by young people, the movement has galvanized students, parents, educators, and concerned citizens who are in support of the reforms proposed by the students.

I was one of over 4,000 people that attended today’s event organized for Riverside, California. I must say, it was inspirational to watch these impassioned young people participating in the democratic process and exercising their Constitutional rights to freedoms of speech and assembly, to hear their emotion-packed speeches, and to watch them take the lead to work for positive social change.

You can view photos below of just a few of the students and teachers who participated in the Riverside event. For more information about today’s rally in Riverside, you can read the article published by the Inland Empire Press Enterprise.