Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Teacher Michelle Young appears on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette

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Former elementary school teacher Michelle Young has become prominent in the public eye for her appearances on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Photo Credit: Bachelor Nation

Many fine classroom teachers also find themselves prominent in the public eye for their appearances on television. One of these is Michelle Anne Young, a former elementary school teacher who has appeared on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

Michelle was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on June 3, 1993. She was raised in the nearby town of Woodbury, where she attended public schools. As a high school student, Michelle was a star basketball player at Woodbury High. In fact, she was named the Most Valuable Player by the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Team, and she became a finalist for Minnesota’s Miss Basketball.

After her high school graduation, Michelle attended Bradley University on an athletic scholarship. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Bradley in 2015. While there, she played Division 1 basketball and was named a Two-Time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete.

Michelle inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a fourth grade teacher at Normandale Hills Elementary School in Bloomington, Minnesota. In her last teaching position, she taught fifth grade at Echo Park Elementary School in Burnsville, Minnesota.

The popular teacher earned nationwide attention in 2021 for her appearances on reality television. During her appearances, Michelle shared her experiences teaching during the pandemic and during the protests following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “I’m able to go to work and know that I’m making a difference,” she asserted. “Some days it doesn’t feel like that when you get home,” she continued. “It’s been a very difficult year for my students, especially my students of color,” she concluded.

In 2021, Michelle appeared in the 25th season of the reality show The Bachelor, where she rose to runner-up position. That same year, she became a contestant on the 18th season of the reality show The Bachelorette. She also appeared on episodes of the talk shows Live with Kelly and Ryan, Entertainment Tonight, three broadcasts of Good Morning America, and as a presenter at the American Music Awards.

After these appearances, which Michelle described as exhausting, she announced she was taking a break from the classroom for at least one year. But some day, she says, she may return to the profession.

Teacher, civic leader, and suffragist Clara Byrd Baker

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Clara Byrd Baker

Elementary school teacher Clara Byrd Baker of Virginia worked tirelessly to improve social conditions in her community as a civic leader and suffragist.

There are many examples of talented classroom teachers who have worked tirelessly to improve social conditions in their community. One of these is Clara Byrd Baker, an elementary school teacher from Virginia who has earned a reputation as an outstanding civic leader and suffragette.

Clara was born on June 22, 1886, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Her parents were Charles and Malvina Carey Byrd. As a young woman, Clara enrolled in Hampton Institute. She also attended Virginia State College for Negroes, now known as Virginia State College, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education. She was only 16 years old at the time.

After earning her degree, Clara launched her career as an educator in 1902 when she accepted a position as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in James City County, Virginia. In 1920, she became a teacher at a public training school for African American students. Later, she joined the faculty at Bruton Heights School in Williamsburg. After a career in the classroom that spanned an amazing 50 years, Clara retired in 1952.

Throughout her life, even during the years she taught school, Clara served as a leader in Williamsburg’s African American community. She worked to expand educational opportunities for students, to improve inter-racial relations, and to secure the vote for women. In fact, after the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, Clara became the first woman in Williamsburg to vote.

For her efforts, Clara earned numerous accolades. In 2007, she was honored by the Virginia State Library and Archives as an African American Trailblazer. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation recognized her achievements in 2011. The Virginia State University Alumni Association gave her a Meritorious Service Award and named her their Alumni of the Year. In 1989, a newly-built elementary school in Williamsburg was named in her honor.

Clara Baker Byrd passed away on October 20, 1979, at the age of 93. She is interred in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Williamsburg.

Teacher Irma Dixon also served in the Maryland General Assembly

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Elementary teacher Irma George Dixon served in the Maryland General Assembly, one of the first two African American women to be elected to the body. Photo Credit: Maryland Archives

During Black History Month, we recognize the accomplishments of the many African American educators who have made significant contributions to our nation’s education system. One of these was Irma George Dixon, a public schoolteacher who was one of the first two African American women to be elected to the Maryland General Assembly.

Irma George was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1911, and she was raised there. After her graduation from public schools in her home city, she attended Coppin Normal School in Maryland before earning her Bachelor’s degree in English at Morgan State College, also located in Baltimore.

Once she earned her degree, Irma inaugurated her career as an educator in Baltimore public schools, where she taught elementary and junior high school for 15 years, from 1934 to 1949. After leaving the classroom, Irma married William B. Dixon and established a small business selling dresses from her home.

Always eager to better the life of others, in 1958, Irma decided to make a bid for public office. She was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent the Fourth District, which included the city of Baltimore, in the Maryland General Assembly. That same year, colleague Verda Freeman Welcome was also elected, and the two became the first African American women elected to the legislative body.

While in office, the former teacher was a strong advocate for education, proposing tax increases to pay for additional funding for education and advocating that school be compulsory beginning in kindergarten. She was also an advocate of equal pay for men and women, and in 1962 she sponsored a bill that proposed a ban on racial discrimination in private employment throughout her state.

In addition to her work in the legislature, Irma was involved in a number of advocacy groups, including the Baltimore Urban League, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, the School Marms, and the YWCA. She also served as a legislative consultant to the Health Commission of the Maryland State Conference of Social Welfare.

Sadly, Irma Dixon passed away, while still in office, on June 30, 1965. Only 54 years old, she had been battling a lengthy illness. She is buried at Arbutus Memorial Park in Baltimore.

 

Harold Jackman: Teacher, model, literary editor, and charismatic patron the arts

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New York Social Studies teacher Harold Jackman was a model, magazine editor, and charismatic patron of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance. Here he is depicted in the 1925 drawing A College Lad. Photo Credit: Winold Reiss

In recognition of Black History Month, we spotlight today Harold Jackman, a very accomplished African American social studies teacher, model, and magazine editor in New York City.

Harold was born on Aug. 18, 1901, in London, England. When he was a child, he immigrated to the United States with his mother, who was originally from the West Indies, and his brother. Once the family landed in the Bronx borough of New York City, Harold attended the prestigious all-boys school DeWitt Clinton High School. In 1923 he earned a Bachelor’s degree from New York University and in 1927 he completed the requirements for his Master’s degree from Columbia University. He then inaugurated his career as a professional educator. In a career that spanned 30 years, Harold taught social studies in New York City Public Schools in Harlem.

In addition to his work in the schools, Harold worked as a model at the Grace Del Marco Agency. He served as the model for Winold Reiss in his 1925 drawing A College Lad. Harold was also a patron of of the arts, most notably African American theater. He was a founding member for the Krigwa Players Little Negro Theater in 1926, and he helped establish the Harlem Experimental theater in 1929. He was also a member of the American Theater Wing State Door Canteen during the 1940s. Furthermore, Harold served on the Executive Board of the Negro Actors Guild.

Harold had many friends in artistic spheres. One of his best friends was Countee Cullen, a school friend from Clinton DeWitt who became a renowned poet of the Harlem Renaissance. In fact, Countee Cullen dedicated his famous poem “Heritage” to Harold. Very interested in literary pursuits, Harold served as the Associate Editor of New Challenge Magazine from 1935 to 1937. He also served as a contributing editor to Phylon from 1944 to 1956 and an advisory editor from 1957 to 1961. The charismatic teacher also served as the inspiration for several fictional characters. He appears in Wallace Thurman’s Infants of Spring, Carl Van Vechten’s Nigger Heaven, and Ben Neihart’s Rough Amusements, The True Story of A’Lelia Walker, Patroness of the Harlem Renaissance’s Down-Low Culture.

Sadly, this remarkable teacher succumbed to cancer at a hospital in Maine on July 8, 1961. After his passing, Harold Jackman’s diaries, manuscripts, correspondence, and other personal papers were donated to Atlanta University, where they became part of the Cullen-Jackman Memorial Collection in recognition of their historic value. In addition, the Harold Jackman Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to art in New York was established in his honor.

During Black History Month, we celebrate educator and Civil Rights leader Bob Moses

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Math educator and legendary Civil Rights Movement leader Bob Moses organized Black voter registration efforts and the Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. Photo credit: The Pine Belt News

During Black History Month, we’d like to recognize Bob Moses. He was a legendary Civil Rights Movement leader who organized black voter registration efforts and Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. He was also an innovative math educator.

Bob Moses was born in New York City on Jan. 23, 1935, to a family of modest means. He was raised in the Projects in Harlem. Despite his family’s limited financial resources, Bob earned a scholarship to attend Stuyvesant High School, an elite public high school for gifted boys. Before his graduation in 1952, Bob was elected senior class president and served as the captain of the school’s baseball team.

Upon graduation, Bob earned another scholarship, this time to attend Hamilton College, a prestigious private liberal arts college in Clinton, New York. There he majored in philosophy and participated in both the basketball and baseball programs. After completing the requirements for his Bachelor’s degree in 1956, Bob traveled abroad extensively, working in a series of Quaker summer camps in Europe and Japan building housing for the poor, harvesting crops for a missionary hospital, and improving facilities for mentally disturbed children. The following year he earned his Master’s degree in Analytic Philosophy from Harvard University.

Bob was teaching at the prestigious Horace Mann High School in the Bronx when he became aware of the student sit-ins that were taking place in Greensboro, North Carolina. He decided to join them, and that decision launched the math educator’s path towards becoming a legendary figure during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. Bob is best known for organizing the Black voter registration efforts and the Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. This heroic teacher’s revolutionary work, which was not without risk to life and limb, transformed the political power structure of entire communities.

Forty years later, Bob advocated for yet another transformational change: the Algebra Project. When he created this program, Bob asserted that a deficiency in math literacy in poor neighborhoods puts impoverished children at an economic disadvantage. The deficiency makes students unable to compete successfully for jobs in the 21st century. This disenfranchisement, he declared, is as debilitating as lack of personal liberties was prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Bob’s solution was to organize people, community by community, school by school, to overcome the achievement gap. He believed this would give impoverished children the tools they need to claim their share of economic enfranchisement. Bob described his work in this area in his  book, Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project written with fellow Civil Rights worker Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

Sadly, Bob Moses passed away in Florida on Sun., July 25, 2021, at the age of 86.

A chapter about this remarkable teacher is also included in my second book, entitled Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor.  This book is also available on amazon; click on this link to view: Chalkboard Heroes.