Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Dr. Ruth Flowers: Chalkboard Champion of Colorado

Posted on by

Award-winning educator Dr. Ruth Flowers of Boulder, Colorado. (Fair Use Photo)

American history is rich with the stories of amazing Black Chalkboard Champions. One of these was Ruth Flowers, an award-winning educator from Boulder, Colorado.

Ruth was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on March 10, 1903. Her father was a bricklayer, and her mother was a dressmaker. Ruth’s father abandoned the family before Ruth was born, and her mother passed away when Ruth was only 11. The young child was raised by her grandmother. In 1917, Ruth moved with her grandmother to Boulder, Colorado. There she attended Boulder High School. During her high school years, Ruth worked at jobs in a laundry and in a restaurant to help support her family.

After she completed her high school courses in 1920, Ruth enrolled at the University of Colorado, where she majored in foreign language. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1924. For the next four years, Ruth taught language at Claflin College in South Carolina. During these years, she returned to Boulder every summer to continue her education and to take care of her aging grandmother. In 1930 she completed the coursework for her Master’s degree in French and Education.

Once she earned her Master’s degree, Ruth relocated to Washington, DC, where she accepted a position at Dunbar High School. She taught there from 1931 to 1945. Ruth was always looking for additional opportunities to gain more education. She enrolled in night courses at Robert F. Terrell Law School, where she earned a law degree in 1945. In 1937, she married her law school classmate, Harold Flowers. In 1945, Ruth left the classroom and practiced law with her husband.

Ruth returned to school in 1951 to work on a PhD in Foreign Languages and Literature. For this degree she enrolled at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. This done, Ruth taught as an Associate Professor of Spanish at North Carolina College in Durham, North Carolina. The school is now known as North Carolina Central University. In 1958, she spent a year in Spain.

In 1959, Ruth returned to Boulder, where she accepted a position as the Chair of the Foreign Language Department at Fairview High School. She taught courses in Spanish and Latin there. She was the first African American teacher to work in the Boulder Valley School District. She taught there until her retirement in 1967.

During the 1970-1971 school year, Ruth came out of retirement to teach a course in African American literature as part of the Black Studies program at the University of Colorado.

For her superior work in the classroom, Ruth garnered a Teacher of the Year award from Harvard University in 1969. She was also named Bicentennial Mother of Achievement by the state of Colorado in 1975.

Ruth Flowers passed away on November 20, 1980, in Boulder. She was 77 years old. To read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this link to BlackPast.

Beloved Detroit educator and coach Dwight Jones succumbs to Covid-19

Posted on by

Beloved educator and coach Dwight Jones (front row, left) with the Mumford High School girls basketball team and their 2017 championship trophy. Dwight passed away from Covid-19 on March 29, 2020. Photo credit: Mumford High School

Sadly, Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Dwight Jones, a retired basketball coach from Mumford High School in Detroit, Michigan. He was 73 years old when he succumbed to the disease on March 29, 2020.

Dwight first made a name for himself as a teenager in the early 1960s. He was one of the very few African Americans enrolled at Holy Redeemer High School, a private Catholic high school located in southwest Detroit. At 6’5″ and 230 pounds, he was unparalleled at rebounding. In fact, he earned the nickname “Hawk” throughout the Catholic League. In those days, he was involved in football, baseball, and track and field in addition to basketball. At the same time, he earned top grades.

The well-rounded student earned a full-ride scholarship to Tennessee State in Nashville. There he played on the basketball team. He pledged to the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Dwight returned to Detroit, and in 1970 he accepted a position at Mumford High School. There he taught physical education and coached both girls and boys basketball. He also coached track and field, cross country, and tennis, and he served as the school’s Athletic Director. His career there spanned nearly five decades.

In addition to helping his young players develop their athletic talents, Dwight also worked hard to get them into college, whether it was a Division I or II school, or a historically Black college. “When he took over as Athletic Director, he was all about grades,” remembered Mumford colleague and former student Kevin Jackson. “Words can’t express what he meant to us.”

To read more about this legendary local hero, read this online story published by Detroit News.

Educator, librarian, lecturer, and Civil Rights activist, Pauline Young

Posted on by

Educator, librarian, lecturer, and Civil Rights activist, Pauline Young.

Often have I marveled at how much America’s teachers contribute to the social betterment of society as a whole. One teacher who made such contributions was Pauline Young, an African American educator, librarian,  lecturer, and Civil rights activist from Massachusetts.

Pauline was born on August 17, 1900, in West Medford, Massachusetts. Her father was a caterer and her mother was an English teacher. After her father’s death, Pauline’s mother moved with her children to Wilmington, Delaware. Pauline often said that her Delaware childhood home was a “wayside inn and an underground railroad for visiting Negroes and white literary friends, who wouldn’t go to the hotel, you know, since the hotel wouldn’t admit Negroes.” WEB DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, and James Weldon Johnson were among the guests who visited her home.

As an adolescent, Pauline attended Howard High School, the only school in Delaware that admitted Black students. Both her mother and her aunt, who was married to poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, were teachers at the school. After her graduation from high school, Pauline enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the only African American student in her class. At this school Pauline earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and English in 1921.

Once she earned her degree, Pauline accepted a position to teach social studies and Latin at Huntington High School, a school for Black students in Newport News, Virginia. Later she was hired to be the librarian at her alma mater, Howard High School. During her tenure there, Pauline also taught History and Latin. Her career spanned 36 years, from 1919 to 1955.

During her years as a teacher at Howard, the indefatigable educator accomplished a myriad of other achievements. In 1935, Pauline completed the requirements for a graduate degree from the Columbia University School of Library Service. She also traveled to the Southwest, where she taught courses at the University of Southern California. This amazing educator next went to Alabama, where she completed courses in pilot training at the Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago, Illinois, and flight instruction at Temple University. Pauline then taught  courses in pre-flight at Howard High School. In addition to these pursuits, the intrepid educator also worked actively for the NAACP and the United Service Organizations (USO), and collaborated on writing projects with WEB DuBois.

Pauline’s career at Howard spanned 36 years, from 1919 to 1955. After her retirement from Howard High School, Pauline helped to found the American Federation of Teachers. She also traveled to Jamaica, where she served as a teacher for the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964. While there, she helped train librarians and library staff members. She also served as a librarian of the Jamaican Scientific Research Council. She worked on the Jamaican library’s first indexing system, where over 80,000 books were cataloged.

Once Pauline returned to the United States, she accepted speaking engagements and substitute teaching assignments. In 1968, she instructed a course in Afro-American history at the Central YMCA in Wilmington, Delaware.  She also became active in the Civil Rights Movement. She even met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and participated in his 1963 March on Washington. She also took part in King’s March for Equality from Selma to Montgomery, as well as other peaceful protests.

This remarkable educator passed away on June 26, 1991, in Wilmington. She was 91 years old. For her lifetime achievements, Pauline was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 1982. She also garnered recognition from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Association of University Women.

To read more about Pauline A. Young, see this link by historian Judith Y. Gibson at the University of Delaware.

Educator, jazz musician, and Tuskegee Airman LeRoy Battle

Posted on by

Educator, jazz musican, and Tuskegee Airman LeRoy Battle with his 1995 autobiography, Easier Said.

I always enjoy sharing stories about superb educators who have also distinguished themselves in areas outside the sphere of education. One of these is LeRoy Battle, a high school music teacher who was also a fine jazz musician and a heroic Tuskegee Airman.

LeRoy was born Dec. 31, 1921, in the Harlem section of New York City, New York. His father owned a candy store, and his mother worked as a beautician and cook. While a youngster, LeRoy expressed an interest in music. He was able to take music lessons through both the Boy Scouts and the YMCA, where it was obvious he was a natural. By the time he was in the seventh grade, young LeRoy owned his own drum set. After years of learning and practice, the youthful musician was proficient enough to give music lessons as a private tutor.

As a teenager, LeRoy attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There he played drums in the marching band and the school orchestra. He also performed in New York’s All-City Orchestra, the Harold Cabbell Orchestra, and the Al Bounds Orchestra. By the time LeRoy was a senior, he played with legendary singer Billie Holiday at the Three Deuces Jazz Club. He also worked with Pearl Bailey. After his graduation, the youthful musician joined a traveling band and went on the road.

Educator LeRoy Battle shown during World War II, when he served in the prestigious Tuskegee Airman group.

During WWII, Leroy was drafted. He served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1945 to 1947. Once he earned his silver wings and bars, LeRoy volunteered to join the Tuskegee Airmen. “I can’t say that I ever had any previous aspirations to be a pilot,” he once confessed. “But it sounded like a much better opportunity than anything else that was likely to come along.”  After completing the Tuskegee program at Tuskegee University, gunnery training at Tyndall Field, and bombardier training at Midland Air Force Base, LeRoy joined the 616th Squadron of the 477th Bombardment Group stationed at Freeman Army Air Force Base. For his heroism during WWII, LeRoy garnered the Congressional Gold Medal.

When the war ended, the former pilot continued his studies in music. He returned to New York City and enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music.Then Morgan State University, a historically Black college located in Baltimore, Maryland. There he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Education. He also earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In 1950, LeRoy accepted a position as a music teacher at Douglass High School in Washington, DC. That year he established a stage band for his students. Over the next eight years, The Douglass High School Band placed garnered first place in 14 competitions. In 1958, the students became the first African American band featured in the prestigious yearbook First Chair of America. Jet Magazine  also printed a spread on the outstanding young musicians. Before LeRoy retired in 1978, he also served as a guidance counselor and assistant principal. For 17 of those years, he also served as a drummer in the Washington Redskins Marching Band.

Post-retirement, LeRoy continued to make music. From 1992 to 1996 he did session work with jazz musicians Eva Cassidy and Chuck Brown.In addition, he worked as a motivational speaker for the Tuskegee Airmen’s Speaker’s Bureau. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, he authored an autobiography entitled Easier Said, published in 1995.

Sadly, LeRoy passed away on March 28, 2015, in Harwood, Maryland. He was 93 years old. To read more about this remarkable Chalkboard Champion, see his obituary published in the Capital Gazette.

Washington teacher Evin Shinn addresses social justice

Posted on by

Evin Shinn, who teaches 11th grade US History and Language Arts at Cleveland High School in Seattle, Washington, works with his students to address issues of social justice.

Throughout America, educators who are still conducting classes are struggling with how to address issues of social justice with their students. One such educator is Evin Shinn, who teaches 11th grade US History and Language Arts at Cleveland High School in Seattle, Washington.

Evin is one of only three African American teachers at his school, even though 90% of the student body is students of color, and 20% is African American. Because he is Black, Evin feels compelled to address the current protests and issues of social justice with his students, despite the difficulty of broaching the subject. “It’s hard because as a teacher, you’re not a therapist, you’re not a social worker, you’re not a doctor or a nurse—but those are all roles we take on when you become a teacher,” Evin remarked in an interview with Education Week (June 1, 2020). “Particularly as a Black educator, it’s so important to show up for students in moments like this.”

When protests erupted throughout the country this week in response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, Evin sent text messages to his students to tell them he wasn’t assigning any work this week. Instead, he told his students they should do something to combat racism. He suggested they write a letter to elected officials, make a protest sign, or write a poem that reflected on inequities and the protests.

Next the compassionate teacher sent a text message to each one of his African American students individually to ask them if they were OK and if there was anything he could do for them. “I was very open,” Evin said. He told the students, “I’m feeling definitely sad, and I’m feeling hopeless and angry, and I feel rage,” he revealed. He asked them, “How are you doing? How are you feeling?” The students who responded confessed they felt like this week has been “one big emotional roller coaster.” One student said they were avoiding social media because there’s “a lot going on, and it’s really sad.” In addition to reaching out to the kids, Evin held a virtual class meeting on Wednesday to give his students additional opportunities to talk and process their emotions.

Evin is just one of many educators who is working diligently with their students as they try to cope with current events in meaningful and constructive ways. He is a true Chalkboard Champion! To read more about him and other educators addressing today’s current events with their students, read the full article at Education Week.