New Jersey history teacher and guidance counselor Priscilla B. Anderson also served in the New Jersey State General Assembly. Photo Credit: ourcampaigns.com

Many excellent educators have also earned success as politicians. One of these is Priscilla B. Anderson, a public school teacher and guidance counselor from New Jersey who once served as an elected member of her state’s General Assembly.

Priscilla was born on Sept. 14, 1935, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After earning both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education, she worked as first a history teacher and then a guidance counselor in public schools in Trenton, New Jersey. Priscilla was known to have a special interesting young people and their contributions to the community. In fact, to recognize their service, she established the Willingboro Youth Achievement Awards to honor them.

Priscilla inaugurated her career as a politician in 1981 when she was elected to serve on the Willingboro Township Council in Burlington County, New Jersey. Subsequently she was elected mayor of the Township in 1984 and again in 1991. At that time she was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 7th Legislative District, where she served from 1992 to 1994. Priscilla was the first African American to be elected to the New Jersey State Legislature from Burlington County.

Once her term in the Assembly was completed, Priscilla served as a Commissioner on the Burlington County Bridge Commission. During her tenure, the Commission collected nearly $30 million annually in bridge tolls, oversaw a $41 million capital budget, and handled the county’s economic-development projects.

The retired history teacher and guidance counselor also published a book of local history entitled The History and Contributions of Black Americans to the Development of Willingboro. The volume has become an important resource for historians and sociologists studying her town’s history.

Today, Priscilla B. Anderson is 87 years old, and she resides in Philadelphia.