Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Meet the first Black woman to join the Screen Actors’ Guild: Teacher Mary Elizabeth Vroman

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220px-Jet_Vroman_October_13_1955_coverMany talented educators can also claim fame as accomplished authors. This is true of Mary Elizabeth Vroman, an elementary school teacher who was also the author of several books and short stories, including “See How They Run,” an award-winning short story that became the basis for a movie entitled Bright Road.

Mary was born circa 1924 in Buffalo, New York, and was raised in Antigua in the British West Indies. Like three generations of women educators in her family before her, Mary attended Alabama State Teachers College, now known as Alabama State University, in Montgomery, Alabama, where she graduated in 1949. After her graduation, Mary accepted her first teaching position at an elementary school in rural Alabama. She later taught in Chicago and New York. Her teaching career spanned twenty years.

Mary published her first short story, “See How They Run,” in the June, 1951, issue of Ladies’ Home Journal. The story, based on her experiences in the classroom, generated five hundred enthusiastic letters from readers. Like most of her works, the story depicted the challenges of poverty and disadvantage. The plot revolves around a young, idealistic teacher who encourages her students to escape their poverty through education, and compares the forty-three third graders in the story to the blind mice in the familiar children’s nursery rhyme. Mary describes the teacher’s struggle to provide academic, financial, and emotional support for her students and their families so that they can achieve success. The piece earned the coveted Christopher Award in 1952 for its humanitarian quality. It was reprinted in the July, 1952, issue of Ebony.

Next, Mary served as a technical adviser and assistant screenwriter for the 1953 film version of the story. The title of the piece was changed to Bright Road, and starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. Mary’s work on the film earned her admission to the Screen Actors Guild; she was their first African American woman member.

Vroman’s “See How They Run” tells the story of a young, idealistic teacher encouraging her students to escape from their impoverished environment through education. Comparing the 43 third graders in the story to the blind mice in the familiar nursery rhyme, Vroman details the teacher’s struggle to provide academic, financial, and emotional support for them and their families so that they can achieve success was published in the Ladies’ Home Journal in June, 1951. The piece earned the 1952 Christopher Award, and it was subsequently made into a 1953 film entitled Bright Road. Her work on the film earned her admittance to the Screen Writers Guild, the first African American woman to become a member of the distinguished organization.

Mary was married to Brooklyn dentist Dr. Oliver M. Harper. Sadly, Mary Elizabeth Vroman passed away on April 29, 1967, from complications following surgery. She was only 42 years old.

The Music Lives On, Due to Chalkboard Champion Hortense Parker Gilliam

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hparker2Throughout history, our lives have been genuinely enriched by legions of music teachers who have perpetuated the love of music in our young people. One such music teacher was Hortense Parker Gilliam, an elementary school music teacher who is the first known African American graduate of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.

Hortense Parker was born in Ripley, Ohio, in 1859, the fourth of six children born to John Parker and Miranda (Boulden) Parker, a free black couple. Her mother was born free in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was born into slavery, but in 1845 he was able to buy his freedom. John Parker became a noted abolitionist, inventor, and industrialist. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, John guided hundreds of slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. In fact, the Parker home has been renovated and is now designated a National Historic Landmark.

Hortense’s parents were determined that all of their children should get an education. As children, Hortense and her two younger sisters received a standard education in traditional subjects, and they also studied music. After her high school graduation in 1878, Hortense enrolled in Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, now known as Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Her expenses were paid by a wealthy patron. The institution did not know she was a woman of color until she arrived on campus, but they did not cast her out. On the contrary, Hortense lived on campus in a dormitory along with 250 other students. Unlike many institutions of her day, Mt. Holyoke did not require its black students to live off campus. Hortense was remembered by her classmates as “a quiet ladylike girl, noted especially for her musical ability.” Because of her exceptional musical abilities, faculty and fellow students alike often asked her to play the piano in the seminary in the evenings after classes were done. She had aspirations to continue her music education in Europe upon her graduation, but unfortunately her patron passed away during her senior year. She graduated in 1883, the first known African American student to graduate from that institution.

After graduating from college in 1883, Hortense taught music and piano at Lincoln Elementary School in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1906-1913. That same year she married James Marcus Gilliam, a graduate of Cornell University, and moved with him to St. Louis, where she taught music. During her long career, she also taught music at schools in New York and Indiana.

As the first African-American graduate of Mt. Holyoke, Hortense was featured in Our Path: Students of Color at Mt. Holyoke at the 2007 Alumnae Student Conference there. This chalkboard champion passed away on December 9, 1938, near St. Louis, Missouri.

Former Middle School Teacher and Pro Basketball Player Anquell McCollum

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5867323Many gifted athletes share their talent and expertise with young students when they become teachers and coaches. This is certainly the case with Anquell McCollum, a professional basketball player who also served as a former junior high school computer skills teacher and university assistant basketball coach.

Anquell was born in 1973 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He graduated from E.E. Smith High School in his home town. There he played basketball, where he distinguished himself with 24 three-point field goal attempts, of which 11 were successful. Although this milestone accomplishment was broken in 2004, Anquell established a state record at the time.

After his high school graduation, Anquell enrolled in Western Carolina University, where he played as a guard for the Catamounts during the 1992–1993 and 1995–1996 seasons. In his freshman year, the 6’1″, 180 pound Anquell earned a place on the Southern Conference (SoCon) All-Freshmen Team. Between his sophomore and senior years, Anquell was selected for the All-SoCon Tournament all three years, he was a First Team All-SoCon player two years, and in 1995–1996 he was named both the Conference Player of the Year as well as the Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player. That season, Anquell averaged 25 points per game and was ranked fifth in the nation. He led the Catamounts to one of the most historic seasons in the university’s history. That was the year the university won its only Southern Conference championship.

Following his college graduation, Anquell became a professional basketball player. He first played in  France for the 1996-1997 season. From 1997-1999 he played professionally in Venezuela. In 1998 he played in both Columbia and Hong Kong. Additionally, in 2000 he played in the Dominican Republic and in the United States Basketball League for the Treasure Island Tropics. At the end of that season, Anquell retired from the game.

In 2000, Anquell returned to Western Carolina University to complete his degree in Computer Information Systems. Between 2000 and 2004, Anquell accepted a position as a computer skills teacher at Spring Lake Middle School in Spring Lake, North Carolina. He then became the Assistant Director of Admissions for Western Carolina University. In 2004–2005, this gifted athlete became an official assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at the university.

This chalkboard champion was named to the Western Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. Anguell and his wife, Marie, currently live in Cullowhee, North Carolina. They have two daughters.

Chalkboard Champion and Tennessee Teacher William A. Feilds

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150px-William_A_FeildsOften talented educators also become accomplished politicians. Such is the case with Tennessee school teacher William A. Feilds.

William A. Feilds was born into slavery near Fisherville in the county of Shelby located in west Tennessee in circa 1846. Although many records spell his surname as “Field” or “Fields,” William himself seems generally to have used the “e-i” combination, normally adding a final “s.”

Through years of hard work and close application to study, William earned his teaching certificate which qualified him to teach in the public schools. By 1883, William had become the principal of Shelby County’s 5th District school, at that time located on Waldran Avenue just beyond the Memphis city limits, not far from where Memphis Central High School stands today.

In addition to his career as a schoolteacher and principal, William served one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives as a member of the Republican party. He served from 1885-1886. During his years of service in the legislature, William was particularly interested in efforts to educate black children and to give African Americans greater control over the schools in their communities.  He urged passage of his bill, HB 119, which would require parents and guardians to enroll children aged 7-16 in school for 120 days per year. After he left the legislature, William was also elected a member of the Shelby County County Court, a legislative body, and he served as a justice of the peace.

On December 29, 1874, William A. Feilds married Elizabeth Feilds. The couple had three children: Mary, Cyrus William, and Stella. He is also purported to be the great-great-grandfather of actress and recording artist Vanessa Williams.

This chalkboard champion passed away on September 9, 1898.

Chalkboard Hero Willa Brown Chappell: She Taught Tuskegee Airmen How to Fly

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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 next book, Chalkboard Heroes, which has just been published and is available on amazon.com and the website for Barnes and Noble.