Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Bertha Boschulte: Talented teacher and tireless women’s suffragist

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Teacher, principal, and public health official Bertha Boschulte of the Virgin Islands was also a tireless women’s suffragist. Photo Credit: Public Domain

Many talented educators devote their considerable energy to social issues. One of these was Bertha Boschulte, a teacher, principal, and public health worker from the Virgin Islands who dedicated herself to women’s suffrage in her home territory.

Bertha was born on March 30, 1906, in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. After her graduation from Charlotte Amalie Junior/Senior High School, she taught for one year. Then she moved to the mainland, where she settled in the state of Virginia and enrolled in the Hampton Institute. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in English and Mathematics in 1929.

Following her graduation from college, Bertha returned to the Virgin Islands, where she accepted a teaching position at her alma mater, Charlotte Amalie High School. During the next few years, while teaching and serving as the secretary of the St. Thomas Teachers Association, Bertha became a champion of the women’s suffrage movement. She was one of numerous women teachers who attempted to register to vote and had been denied. The teachers’ union filed a lawsuit, and earned a ruling in their favor.

By 1938, Bertha had been promoted to be principal of the Charlotte Amalie school, but after a few years, she decided to return to the United States, where she enrolled at Columbia University’s Teachers College. There she earned her Master’s degree in Educational Administration in 1945. After securing her teaching credential in 1946, Bertha accepted a teaching position at New York’s PS 81.

While in New York, the forward-thinking educator became involved with the International Assembly of Women, a conference organized by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to advance the goals of political equality for women and support the establishment of the United Nations. In 1947, Bertha returned to the Virgin Islands, where she worked with colleagues to establish a teachers’ institute to offer training to educators who wanted to improve their instructional practices.

Bertha launched a new chapter of her life in 1950 when she relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health. The following year, her goal achieved, she returned to the Virgin Islands, where she was appointed the Director of the Statistical Service for the territory’s Health Department. She served in that department until 1963. In 1964, this amazing former teacher was elected to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, where she served one two-year term as a Senator. In 1969, Bertha was appointed to serve on the Commission on the Status of Women, and in 1970, she was elected to the Board of the Territorial Department of Education, where she was served as the Chairperson.

For her tireless work as an educator, public health official, and women’s suffragist, Bertha was named Woman of the Year by the Federation of Business and Professional Women in 1965. In 1981, the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School in Bovoni was named in her honor. This Chalkboard Hero passed away on August 18, 2004. She was 98 years old.

Honoring Lucy Williams: First Black teacher in Omaha public schools

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During Women’s History Month, we applaud Lucy Gamble Williams, who was the first African American teacher to be hired to work in public schools in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo credit: North Omaha History

Many talented women schoolteachers have been applauded during Women’s History Month for their historic firsts. One such teacher is Lucinda (Lucy) Gamble Williams, an elementary school teacher who was the first African American to be hired to work in Omaha public schools.

Lucy was born Lucinda Anneford Gamble on September 9, 1875, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the oldest of eight children of her parents, William and Evaline Gamble. The family moved to Omaha when she was five years old. As an elementary student, Lucy was first enrolled in the Old Dodge School, but later transferred to Pacific School. She graduated from Omaha Central High School in 1893.

Following her graduation from high school, Lucy enrolled in Omaha Normal School, a college which trained future teachers. She completed her two-year course of study there in 1895. “My teacher in the Normal school tried very hard to discourage me from going to the school as she said that I never would secure employment in the school system,” Lucy once recalled. But she must have been a very impressive candidate, because within three months of her graduation, Lucy was offered a position at her former elementary school, the Old Dodge School. With this appointment, Lucy became Omaha’s first African American school teacher. Later Lucy transferred to Cass School.

After six years of teaching, according to the custom of the day, Lucy resigned when she married the Reverend John Albert Williams, the son of a former slave who had escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad. After the Civil War was won, John immigrated to the United States, landed in Nebraska, and became an activist for the African American community. The couple had one son they named Worthington, and two daughters, Catherine and Dorothy.

Even though she was no longer teaching, Lucy continued to serve her community. For ten years, she was the Chairperson of the the board of the Omaha’s Negro Old People’s Home, and she was a prominent member of the Omaha Colored Women’s Club. In addition, she also served on the board of the Omaha chapter of the NAACP.

Read a transcript of Lucy Gamble Williams’ personal history on file at the Library of Congress at this link: Lucy Gamble Williams.

Brianna Ross named Maryland’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

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Sixth grade social studies teacher Brianna Ross has been named Maryland’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Morgan State University

Congratulations are in order for Brianna Ross, a middle school Social Studies teacher who has been named as Maryland’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year.

Brianna teaches World History to sixth graders at Deer Park Middle School in Randallstown, Maryland. She also serves as the Social Studies Department Department Chair and as her school’s Equity Liaison, where she works towards creating culturally inclusive classrooms. In addition, she co-ordinates a summer transition program to support incoming sixth graders in a variety of ways—socially, emotionally, and academically—as they prepare for the expectations of middle school.

“In my classroom, I have created a culture that prioritizes building positive relationships and academic rigor above all else,” declares Brianna. “It is my mission to ensure that when each of my students steps into my space, they feel that they are part of a community that loves them, values who they are, and will protect them no matter what,” she continues. “Taking care of my students will always be my first priority,” she concludes. Brianna’s career as an educator spans six years.

Her designation as Maryland’s 2022 Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Brianna has earned. She was named a Fellow of the New Leaders Council in 2018 and worked with other educators to identify progressive solutions for a more sustainable and equitable future in Maryland.

Brianna earned her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Development Psychology in 2014 and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2015, both from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her certification in Administration and Supervision from Loyola University of Maryland in 2019. Currently, the honored educator is working on her PhD in Urban Educational Leadership from Morgan State University located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Brianna Ross: A true Chalkboard Champion.

Thelma Dewitty: First Black educator in Seattle, Washington

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Thelma Dewitty

Thelma Dewitty, the first African American teacher hired by the Seattle Public School System, reading to her second-graders at Cooper School in 1950. Photo credit: The Pride Foundation

Many excellent classroom teachers became pioneering groundbreakers in their time. This is true of Thelma Dewitty, a talented classroom teacher who became the first African American educator in Washington state’s Seattle Public School System.

Thelma was born in 1912 in Beaumont, Texas. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, in 1941. Even before she earned her degree, Thelma inaugurated her career as a teacher in Corpus Christi, Texas, accepting her first position in 1942. She taught there for nine years, and then for another five years in Beaumont, Texas.

In 1947, Thelma moved to Washington State with her husband. There she attended graduate school at the University of Washington, and began writing a book about mathematics for children. When she expressed an interest in teaching in Seattle, she discovered that the city’s school system was not integrated. Although she was an African American, the NAACP, the Seattle Urban League, the Civic Unity Committee, and Christian Friends for Racial Equality encouraged the local school board to break the color barrier and hire her. The school board agreed, and Thelma was hired to teach at Frank B. Cooper School in the Delridge neighborhood of West Seattle. Throughout her long career as a teacher in Seattle, she also taught at several other elementary schools, including John Hay, Laurelhurst, and Sand Point, and she also completed a stint at Meany Junior High School.  After a career as an educator that spanned almost four decades, the dedicated classroom teacher retired in 1973.

In addition to serving as an educator, Thelma worked tirelessly for the Seattle branch of the NAACP, serving as its president in the late 1950s. She also served on the Washington State Board Against Discrimination, and she volunteered on the Board of Theater Supervisors for Seattle and King County.

This amazing educator passed away on August 19, 1976, in Seattle at age 63. She is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle, King County, Washington.

Elem science educator Dr. Jennifer Norford garners awards

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Elementary school educator Dr. Jennifer Norford garnered a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from President Barack Obama in 2008. Photo credit: Jennifer Norford

I always enjoy sharing stories about excellent educators who have earned recognition for their work with students. One of these is Dr. Jennifer Norford, a science teacher from the US Virgin Islands who received Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) from President Barack Obama in 2008.

At the time she garnered her Presidential Award, Jennifer was teaching fifth and sixth grade at the Ulla F. Muller Elementary School in Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands. In the more than two decades she worked in the classroom, Jennifer was praised for her tireless efforts to maintain rigor and relevance in her teacher. She had a reputation for developing curriculum that fostered creativity, scientific inquiry, and cooperative learning in her classroom.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Jennifer also served as the liaison for the High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE), a program funded by the US Department of Education to assist teachers in becoming designated highly qualified teachers. She also coordinated her school’s first-ever School Health Index Plan, served on the School Improvement Team, and was selected president of the Parent-Teacher Association.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, magna cum laude, from the University of the Virgin Islands. She earned her Master’s degree in Education with a concentration in Educational Administration. She completed the requirements for her PhD in Educational Leadership from Walden University in 2013. Additionally, she is a member of the Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society.

In addition to her PAEMST award, Jennifer garnered the Outstanding Award for Science Theory and Practice from the College of Further Education in St. Kitts, Virgin Islands.