Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Washington, DC’s, Dr. Lillian Lowery: Educator extraordinaire

Posted on by
Lillian Lowery

Dr. Lillian Lowery: Educator extraordinaire

I love to share stories about teachers who have accomplished remarkable achievements over the course of their careers. One of these is English teacher Lillian Lowery: Educator extraordinaire. Originally from North Carolina, Lillian now hails from Washington, DC.

Lillian was born in Gastonia, Northampton County, North Carolina. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from North Carolina Central University in Durham. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She completed the requirements for her Ph.D. in Education and Policy Studies from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Lillian inaugurated her teaching as a middle school English teacher at Gaston County Schools in Gastonia, North Carolina. Before long she relocated to Alexandria City Public Schools in Alexandria, Virginia, then on to Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virigina, and then Fort Wayne Community School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. With each new position, Lillian expanded her experience as an educator, serving as a high school English teacher, an assistant principal, minority student achievement monitor, a principal, and an area coordinator.

In 2004, Lillian was appointed the Secretary of Education in Delaware, and then as the Superintendent of the Christina School District in Newark, Delaware. While living in that state, she also served as the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education. Next she moved to Maryland, where she served as the Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education.

In September, 2015, Lillian became the first President and Chief Executive Officer of FutureReady Columbus, a non-profit organization specializing in early childhood education located in Columbus, Ohio. In March, 2017, she was appointed Vice President for PreK-12 Policy, Research, and Practice at Washington, DC’s The Education Trust, a national nonprofit organization working to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps in K-12 education.

For her work as an educator, Lillian has earned many prestigious awards. In 2015, the National Association of State Boards of Education honored her as the “Policy Leader of the Year.” This honor is awarded annually to a national or state policymaker in recognition of his or her contributions to education. Lillian has also garnered the Second Mile Award from the University of Delaware; Wilmington, Delaware’s Junior Achievement Award; the City of Fairfax Mayor’s Service Award; and the Outstanding Service Award from the City of Fairfax School Board. Lillian has also served on several organizational boards including, Delaware State University, edreports.org, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Dr. Lillian Lowery: Educator extraordinaire.

Honoring Carter Godwin Woodson, the founder of Black History Month

Posted on by
Carter Godwin Woodson

Celebrated educator Carter Godwin Woodson, the originator of Black History Month.

This month, teachers throughout the country are currently observing Black History Month, an annual celebration of the many important  contributions African Americans have made to our country. But did you know that Black History Month, itself, was the brainchild of a brilliant American teacher?

Educator Carter Godwin Woodson (1875-1950)  is credited with organizing and advocating annual Black History Month celebrations in American schools in 1926. Certainly this is an admirable accomplishment in and of itself, but there is so much more to learn about this outstanding educator. Did you know that, as a youngster, Carter was forced to work on the family farm rather than attend school? Nevertheless, he taught himself to read using the Bible and local newspapers. He didn’t finish high school until he was 20 years old. Did you know that he once worked as a coal miner in Fayette County, West Virginia, and then later went back there to teach school to the children of Black coal miners, serving as a personal role model for using education to get out of the mines? And did you know that Carter taught school in the Philippines, and then became the supervisor of schools, which included duties as a trainer of teachers, there?

To read more about this fascinating historical figure, check out the chapter I have written about him in my first book, Chalkboard Champions.

The remarkable Mary Jane Patterson: From slavery to classroom

Posted on by

Mary Jane Patterson: Teacher, principal, and women’s rights activist. Photo Credit: Oberlin College Archives

Here is the story of a truly remarkable educator: Mary Jane Patterson. Mary Jane was born the daughter of slaves in Raleigh, North Carolina, on September 12, 1840. Her father, Henry Patterson, worked as a master mason. After Henry gained his freedom in 1852, he relocated his family north to Oberlin, Ohio.

Oberlin was a favored destination of free Blacks and fugitive slaves seeking an education because it boasted a college that was integrated and co-educational. When Mary Jane earned her Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in 1862, she became the first African-American woman to receive a degree from an established American college.

After earning her degree, Mary Jane taught for a short time in Chillicothe, Ohio, before moving to Philadelphia to work at the Institute for Colored Youth, a college preparatory school for African Americans. She taught there for five years. In 1869, the young teacher moved to Washington, DC, where she eventually became the principal of the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth. That school was later renamed M Street High School, and today is called Dunbar High School.

Mary Jane was the first African-American high school principal in Washington, DC, and she is still remembered today for her strong, forceful personality, and for increasing her school’s enrollment from fewer than 50 students to 172 students. During her tenure there, she also initiated high school commencements and a teacher-training department.

In addition to her accomplishments in the school, Mary Jane was also a part of the Colored Woman’s League of Washington, DC, an organization committed to women’s rights. The group focused on training women to become kindergarten teachers, rescue work, and classes for industrial schools and homemaking.

This remarkable educator passed away September 24, 1894, at her home in Washington, DC. She was 54 years old.

Bennie Berry: The compassionate teacher who adopted her student

Posted on by

English teacher Bennie Berry, a dedicated and compassionate English teacher in Beaumont, Texas, went above and beyond for one of her former students a year ago last November. She adopted him.

Anthony Berry was 16 years old when he entered Bennie’s classroom at Pathways Learning Center, an alternative school for troubled students. Feeling like no one on earth cared about him, the teenager had started to display some discipline problems. Anthony had been a foster child since he was 9 years old, and he had come to the conclusion that he may never be adopted. But when he casually suggested to his kindhearted teacher that she could adopt him, she actually considered the idea seriously.

Early in 2018, Anthony’s foster mother told the state she would no longer care for him. That’s when the teacher knew she needed to speak up. “Every kid deserves a chance to be loved,” Bennie says. She secretly filled out the paperwork, and by March, the youngster moved into her home. In November, 2017, on National Adoption Day, the adoption process was finalized, and she legally became his mother.

Bennie brings a lot to the table when she works with her students at Pathways. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English in 1996 from Lamar University in Beaumont. She earned a Master’s degree in Special Education in 2004, and a Master’s in Counseling in 2006, both from Lamar. And she earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from Capella University in 2014. Capella is an online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Bennie Berry: Living proof that teachers change lives.

Willa Brown Chappell: The teacher of Tuskegee Airmen

Posted on by

Many exceptional teachers use their instructional expertise to work with students outside of the classroom. Willa Brown Chappell, the first African American woman licensed to fly in the United States, is an excellent example of this.

Willa was born January 22, 1906, in Glasgow, Kentucky. She earned her degree in education from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. She also completed the requirements for an MBA from Northwestern University in 1937. Following her college graduation, Willa was employed as a high school teacher at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, and later as a social worker in Chicago.

Lt__Willa_Beatrice_Brown[1]

Willa was always seeking challenges and adventures in her life, especially if they could be found outside the limited career fields normally open to African Americans at that time. She decided to learn to fly, studying with Cornelius R. Coffey, a certified flight instructor and expert aviation mechanic at a racially segregated airport in Chicago. Willa earned her private pilot’s license in 1938. Later, Willa and Cornelius married and founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics at Harlem Airport in Chicago, where together they trained black pilots and aviation mechanics. Willa conducted the classroom instruction and Cornelius conducted the in-flight practice.

In 1939, Willa, Cornelius, and their friend Enoch P. Waters founded the National Airmen’s Association of America. Their goal was to secure admission for black aviation cadets into the US military. As the organization’s national secretary and the president of the Chicago branch, Willa became an activist for racial equality. She persistently lobbied the US Government for integration of black pilots into the segregated Army Air Corps and the federal Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), a system established by the Civil Aeronautics Authority just before the outbreak of World War II. The CPTP’s purpose was to provide a pool of civilian pilots for use during national emergencies. Willa was given the rank of an officer in this first integrated unit. In 1948, when Congress finally voted to allow separate-but-equal participation of blacks in civilian flight training programs, the Coffey School of Aeronautics was one of a select few private aviation schools selected for participation. Later, her flight school was selected by the US Army to provide black trainees for the Air Corps pilot training program at the Tuskegee Institute. Willa was instrumental in training more than 200 students who went on to become Tuskegee pilots. Eventually, Willa Brown became the coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and a member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Women’s Advisory Board. She was the first black female officer in the Civil Air Patrol and the first black woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States.

This remarkable educator and pioneer aviatrix passed away on July 18, 1992. In 2010, Willa was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Indiana State University Alumni Association. She was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in her native Kentucky in 2003.

To find out more about this remarkable chalkboard champion, you can read a chapter about her in my book, Chalkboard Heroes, which is available on amazon.com and the website for Barnes and Noble.