Often talented teachers establish a reputation for excellence in fields other than education. This is certainly the case of Margaret Hill McCarter, a well-known author who penned novels set against the background of the Kansas Prairies.

Margaret was born in Carthge, Indiana, on May 2, 1860, the daughter of Quaker parents named Thomas and Nancy (Davis) Hill. She attended Earlham College, a Quaker college, and in 1884 graduated from the State Normal School at Terre Haute, Indiana. She taught school in her home state for nine years, and then relocated to Kansas in 1888 to head the department of English at Topeka High School. There Margaret met and married Dr. William McCarter, on June 5, 1890. Soon the couple expanded their family to include three children.

Margaret began her writing career in 1901. Her early works included The Cottonwood’s Story, 1903; Cuddy’s Baby, 1907; In Old Quivira, 1908; Cuddy and Other Stories, 1908. In 1909 she wrote The Price of the Prairie, which dealt with settlers in post Civil War Kansas. These novels appealed to readers who appreciated her detailed descriptions of the landscape and events. Her later works include The Peace of the Solomon Valley, 1911; A Wall of Men, 1912; A Master’s Degree, 1913; Winning of the Wilderness, 1914; The Cornerstone, 1915; Vanguards of The Plains, A Romance of the Santa Fe Trail, 1917; and The Reclaimers, 1918.

In addition to her writing, McCarter devoted much time to her work civic organizations and clubs, and she became a well-known public speaker. She was active in the Republican Party, and this resulted in an invitation to address the 1920 convention. Margaret was the first woman to speak to the national gathering.

During her lifetime, McCarter received honorary doctorates from Washburn University and the College of Emporia. Today, Margaret Hill McCarter Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, carries on the memory of this celebrated Kansas author.

Margaret McCarter passed away on August 31, 1938, and is buried in Topeka.

One of the most distinguished educators in the state of Tennessee was Andrew David Holt, a public school teacher who was also a tireless champion for public education in his state.

Andrew was born on December 4, 1904, in Milan, Tennessee, the son of two schoolteachers. His childhood was like that of most small-town boys of that time, centered on home, school, and church. His father was a strict disciplinarian, but young Andy was a mischievous youngster. He had an irrepressible sense of humor and engaged in the usual schoolboy antics. Young Andy was very interested in music; he played the trombone in the Milan High School Band and traveled to Europe with the Glee Club.

After his graduation from Milan High School, Andrew enrolled in Emory University. Following his college graduation in 1927, he became an elementary school teacher in West Tennessee, first in Milan, where he taught grades five through eight, and then in Humboldt, where he taught high school. He also served as a coach, a school principal, and a school superintendent.

After ten years of teaching, Andrew joined the faculty of West Tennessee State Teachers College, now known as the University of Memphis, where he served first as the principal of the Training School, then as the director of teacher training, and then as a professor of educational administration. While working in Memphis, Andrew enrolled in a graduate program at Teachers College of Columbia University, where he earned his Ph.D degree in 1937. After receiving his Ph.D., Andrew garnered a position as the executive secretary of the Tennessee Education Association (TEA). In this role, he recruited new members, kept teachers informed of legislative issues, spoke to community groups about the need for additional support for schools, and lobbied the state legislature for additional funds.

When World War II broke out, Andrew took a leave of absence from the TEA to serve with the Army Services Forces in Washington, DC. He was responsible for organizing pre-induction training programs for high school students that were designed to prepare them for induction if called upon.

When the war was over, Andrew returned to the TEA. While there, he developed a friendship with the governor and the state commissioner of education, and due to these friendships he was able to negotiate a teacher retirement plan and a statewide sales tax to help finance public education.

In 1949 Andrew became the president of the National Education Association, after having been elected first vice president in 1948. In 1950, he became the executive assistant to Cloide Brehm, the president of Tennessee University. In 1953 he moved on to become the university’s vice president, and after Brehm’s retirement in 1959, the university’s trustees appointed him to the position of university president, where he served until 1970. During Andrew’s tenure as president, the institution’s enrollment increased threefold, and the faculty and staff doubled in number. Eight new buildings were built on the university’s flagship campus in Knoxville. The university budget and state government funding for its support both increased fourfold.

Andrew Holt passed away in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 7, 1987. Following his passing, the school’s administration building, completed in 1973, was named Andy Holt Tower, and a street on the university’s Knoxville campus, Andy Holt Avenue, was named in his honor.

Andrew David Holt: a true chalkboard champion.

Chalkboard champion Katherine Devereux Blake was born in Manhattan, New York, on July 10, 1858. She was the daughter of well-known pioneer suffragist, newspaper correspondent, and novelist Lillie Devereux Blake.

Katherine earned her college degree in 1876 from what later became Hunter College. Following her graduation, she began her career as a public school teacher in New York City. In 1894 she was appointed the principal of the Girls Department of Public School 6. This school was renamed the Lillie Devereux School in 1916. Katherine served PS 6 as its principal for 34 years, until her retirement in 1927.

Throughout her career as an educator, Katherine Blake used her influence to champion causes that benefited both teachers and students. She promoted improvements in classroom lighting and sanitation, the reform of school textbooks, and night school for women. In addition, she was actively involved in the National Education Association (NEA). She served on a number of committees that promoted teacher benefits, good relationships between public schools and the NEA, and the election of women to the New York Board of Education. Katherine was one of nineteen teachers selected to accompany Dr. John Dewey on his official visit to Russia in 1928.

Not only was Katherine Blake an outstanding educator, but she was also a journalist, a suffragist, and an active peace activist. During her summer vacations from 1911-1919, she campaigned for women’s suffrage in California, New York, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In New York, she was the leader of nearly 15,000 teachers who worked for women’s suffrage. In the 1915 parade sponsored by the Woman Suffrage Association, Katherine marched at the front of nearly 500 teachers.

Katherine Blake was also an active and outspoken peace activist. She was a member of the Ford Peace Expedition in 1915-1916, and she also served as the New York Chair of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She was the chief spokesperson for the Disarmament Caravan, which toured 9,000 miles in 1931 to carry a disarmament petition to President Herbert Hoover and to the International Disarmament Conference in Geneva. The petition was comprised of nearly seven million signatures. Katheirne went to Geneva repeatedly to attend the League of Nations Assembly as a newspaper correspondent, and in 1938 she traveled abroad to study refugee problems.

This remarkable woman and chalkboard champion passed away on February 2, 1950, in St. Louis, Missouri.