Tag Archives: Civil Rights Activists

Timothy Shriver: Disability rights activist and former teacher

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Timothy Shriver, former classroom teacher and disability rights activist, works with children involved in Special Olympics International. Photo credit: Cape Cod Life Publications.

There are many compelling stories of public school teachers who work tirelessly for the improvement of their communities. One is Timothy Shriver, a Connecticut educator who now serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Special Olympics International.

Timothy was born in Massachusetts in 1959, the third child of former US Ambassador Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy. Eunice Shriver is renowned for founding the Special Olympics program which recognizes the athletic abilities of individuals with intellectual, developmental, and physical challenges.

As a youngster, Timothy attended St. Albans School. He earned his Bachelors degree from Yale University in 1981, and his Master’s degree from the Catholic University of America in 1988. He completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Connecticut in 1996.

Once he earned his degrees, Timothy spent 15 years as an educator in public high schools in New Haven, Connecticut. Some of these years he was employed as a special education teacher. Later, Timothy worked for Upward Bound through the University of Connecticut as a teacher and counselor of disadvantaged adolescents.

Timothy was instrumental in establishing the Social Development Project in New Haven, and also established the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has served on the Board of directors of The Future Project, a national organization that empowers young people to create positive social change. In addition, he is a Fellow at the School Development Program at the Yale Child Study Center. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board for Special Olympics International.

As if all this were not enough, Timothy has produced four films, authored The New York Times bestselling book Fully Alive – Discovering What Matters Most, and has published numerous articles in a variety of newspapers and magazines.

For his exemplary work, Timothy has earned many accolades. In 1995 was named Connecticut Citizen of the Year. He also garnered a Presidential Medallion from the University of Illinois. In 2015, he was named a Walter Camp Distinguished American.

To read more about Timothy, click on this link to an interview conducted with him by ESPN.

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

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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.

Teacher, women’s rights activist, and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune

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Teacher, women’s rights activist, and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune.

Many fine educators have also made significant contributions to their communities and to society as a whole. One of these is Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American teacher who was was also a women’s rights activist and civil rights leader.

Mary McLeod Bethune was born on July 10, 1875, to former slaves in a log cabin on a plantation in Maysville, South Carolina. Her parents were Samuel and Patsy McLeod. Mary was the last of the couple’s 17 children, and the only one of the McLeod children to be born into freedom.

When the Civil War was won, Mary’s mother worked for her former owner until she could buy the land on which the McLeod family grew cotton. By nine years of age, young Mary could pick 250 pounds of cotton a day.

Even as a young child, Mary showed an unusual interest in books and reading. However, in those days it was rare for African Americans to receive an education. Nevertheless, a charitable organization interested in providing educational opportunities for Black children established a school near Mary’s home. Her parents could scrape together only enough money to pay the tuition for one of their children, and Mary was chosen. The future educator earned a scholarship to attend the Scotia Seminary, a boarding school in North Carolina. She graduated from there in 1894. She also attended Dwight Moody’s Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Chicago, Illinois. Her studies there spanned two years.

When she grew up, Mary retained her strong desire to extend educational opportunities to other African Americans. She established her career as a teacher. While teaching in South Carolina, she married fellow teacher Albertus Bethune. The union produced one son in 1899.

In 1904 Mary founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. Starting out with only five students, she helped expand the school to more than 250 students over the next few years. Today, this school is known Bethune-Cookman University.

In her later years, Mary became a close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and also a trusted adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt. In recognition of her outstanding abilities, the President made her a member of his unofficial “Black Cabinet.” He also appointed her the head of the National Youth Administration in 1936. In 1937 the indefatigable educator organized a conference on the Problems of the Negro and Negro Youth, and she fought tirelessly to end discrimination and lynching. In 1940, Mary became the Vice President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP), a position she held for the rest of her life. In 1945, she was appointed by President Harry Truman to be the only woman of color present at the founding meeting of the United Nations.

This celebrated educator passed away peacefully on May 18, 1955. For all her accomplishments, Mary McLeod Bethune is truly a chalkboard champion. To read more about her, see this link at the website for the National Women’s History Museum.

George W. Albright: Teacher, Mississippi State Senator, and target of the KKK

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George W. Albright: Teacher, Mississippi State Senator, and target of the Klu Klux Klan.

There are many talented African American teachers in our country’s history. One of these is George Albright, a teacher from Mississippi who also served as a state Senator. His work was so controversial that he became a target of the Ku Klux Klan.

George was born into slavery in 1846. His birthplace was near Holly Springs, Mississippi. As a young child, George was taught to read by his mother, who worked in her slave owners’ kitchen. As she worked, she listened to the white children doing their lessons, and picked up what she could to teach herself and her little son.

When the Civil War broke out, George’s father joined the Union Army. Sadly, he was killed at the Battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi. During the conflict, George joined the Union League, which worked for the Republican party. Once President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, George worked diligently to inform former slaves that they had been freed.

When the Civil War was won and George gained his freedom, he worked as a field hand. He also attended school run by Nelson Gill, who was later murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. During these years, George married a white teacher, and also became a teacher himself.

In 1873, while the Reconstruction was in full swing, George was elected to the Mississippi State Senate on the Republican ticket. He won this seat by defeating E.H. Crump, a leader of the Ku Klux Klan. George served in the Senate from 1874 until 1879.

Besides his work in the legislature, George was a prominent figure in education. He helped to bring teachers from the north to the south. He also served as trustee of the State Normal School. In addition, he helped to organize a volunteer militia. For that effort he himself became a target of the Ku Klux Klan.

To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to read his biography.