Tag Archives: Language Arts Teachers

West Virginia’s Lavinia Norman: The Chalkboard Champion of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

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Many dedicated educators have devoted their entire professional lives to the classroom. One such educator is Lavinia Norman, a high school languages teacher from West Virginia who is also known as one of the original founders of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Lavinia was born on December 14, 1882, in Montgomery, Fayette County, West Virginia. She was the eighth of sixteen children in the family of Thomas and Virginia Norman. Young Lavinia spent her early years in elementary schools in West Virginia, but when her father found employment with the US Postal Service, the family moved to Washington, DC.

In 1901, Lavinia enrolled in preparatory school at Howard University, a traditionally Black college located in our nation’s capital. At the time, there were very few women enrolled at Howard. While at Howard, Lavinia became one of the 16 original founding members of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The young scholar graduated cum laude in 1905 with a degree in English and French. Later, she returned to college to earn a second bachelor’s degree from West Virginia State College, another historically Black university located in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1934.

After her graduation, Lavinia accepted a position as a teacher at Douglass High School in Huntington, West Virginia, where she worked her entire professional career. During her tenure, she taught English, French, and Latin. She also served as her high school’s drama coach and the adviser of the school newspaper. In 1950, this chalkboard champion retired after a distinguished career of forty years in education. 

Lavinia passed away in Washington, DC, on January 22, 1983, at the age of 100. To learn more about this amazing educator, click on this link, Virginia Commonwealth University, or the website for Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Clara Belle Williams: First in the Hearts of New Mexico State University

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Many African American teachers are distinguished for their firsts. One of these is Clara Belle Williams, a beloved New Mexico educator who was the first Black student to graduate from New Mexico State University (NMSU).

Clara Belle Drisdale was born in Plum, Texas, in October 29, 1885. As a young woman, she attended Prairie View Normal and Independent College in Prairie View, Texas. The institution is now known as Prairie View A & M University. A brilliant and diligent student, Clara Belle was named valedictorian of her graduating class in 1908.

After her graduation from college, Clara Belle accepted a teaching position at Booker T. Washington Elementary School in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she taught for more than 20 years. During this time, Las Cruces public schools were segregated. While teaching in 1928, she enrolled in summer school courses at the New Mexico College of Agriculture & Mechanic Arts (NMCA&MA). Shamefully, many of her professors would not allow her inside the classroom because she was Black. But that didn’t stop the intrepid teacher. She took notes from the hallway, while standing up. Clara Belle finally earned her Bachelor’s Degree in English from NMCA&MA in 1937. She was 51 years old at the time. Always a lifelong learner, Clara Belle continued her education well beyond her graduation date, taking graduate level classes into the 1950’s.

In 1917, Clara Belle married Jasper Williams. The union produced three sons: Jasper, James, and Charles. When her sons were grown, all three of them attended college and graduated with medical degrees.

During her lifetime, Clara Belle Williams was awarded many honors.  In 1961, New Mexico State University  named Williams Street on the main campus in her honor. Additionally, NMSU conferred an an honorary doctorate upon her in 1980. The university named Sunday, February 13, 200t, Clara Belle Williams Day. Included in the festivities was the renaming of the NMSU English Building as Clara Belle Williams Hall.

This remarkable educator passed away at the age of 108 on July 3, 1994, in Chicago, Illinois. She was interred at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. To learn more about Clara Belle, click on this link: New Mexico State University Library.

Teacher and Chronicler of the Dust Bowl Caroline Henderson

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I love to share intriguing stories of dedicated educators who exhibit talents in arenas outside of the classroom. This one is about Caroline Boa Henderson, a high school English and Latin teacher who is also celebrated as an author of her personal Dust Bowl survival story.

Caroline Boa was born on April 7, 1877, in Wisconsin, the eldest daughter of affluent farmers. Even as a young girl, Caroline dreamed of someday owning a piece of land she could call her own.

After her high school graduation, Caroline attended Mt. Holyoke College, where she earned her degree in languages and literature in 1901. The new graduate accepted her first teaching position in Red Oak, Iowa, where she taught high school English and Latin from 1901 to 1903. She then taught in Des Moines, Iowa, until 1907. Then, in pursuit of her childhood dream, Caroline relocated to Texas County, Oklahoma, where she staked out a homestead claim on a quarter section of land and moved into a one-room shack which she christened her castle. There she accepted a teaching position in the local school.

In 1908, Caroline married named Bill Henderson, a Texas County farmer. The couple established a farm in nearby Eva, Oklahoma. The following year, Caroline gave birth to a daughter they named Eleanor. When Eleanor came of age, the youngster enrolled at the University of Kansas, where she eventually completed her bachelor’s degree. In order to help pay for Eleanor’s education, Caroline relocated to Lawrence, Kansas, where the two women shared an apartment while Caroline taught school part-time. During this period, Caroline also enrolled in graduate courses in English at the University of Kansas. In 1935, she completed the requirements for her master’s degree.

During the years from 1931-1937, at the height of the Dust Bowl, Caroline published a series of letters and articles in the prestigious magazine Atlantic Monthly. These letters and articles chronicled the grueling conditions faced by farmers who elected to remain on their farms during the severe conditions presented by the Dust Bowl drought, as harsh a natural disaster as any our nation has seen, even in recent years. She also included descriptions of daily life on her own farm, including her experiences with housekeeping, canning, cooking, tending her vegetable and flower gardens, ironing, and caring for her chickens. Her letters and articles earned her a national following, and were included in a PBS special on the Dust Bowl created by Ken Burns in 2012. To read some excerpts from these published pieces, click on the link Letters from the Dust Bowl.

This very amazing teacher and talented author passed away on August 4, 1966, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jean Doerge: Chalkboard Champion and Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives

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There are many examples of dedicated educators who have also served in political office. This is true of Jean McGlothlin Doerge, a high school business teacher who also served in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Jean was born June 4, 1937, in Galbraith, a small town in Natchitoches Parish in Central Louisiana. After she graduated from Cloutierville High School, she enrolled in Northwestern State University (NSU) in Natchitoches. She completed the requirements for her bachelor’s degree in education in 1958. She also became a bride that year, having married fellow student Everett Doerge, also a teacher.

Jean accepted her first teaching assignment as a business teacher at Minden High School in Minden, Louisiana. The following year, she transferred to Arp Independent School in Arp, Texas, where she taught business courses. She also served as the adviser for the school’s newspaper, yearbook, and cheerleaders. At other schools in the following years, Jean taught girls’ physical education, coached the girls’ basketball team, and taught 9th and 10th grade Language Arts. Jean returned to Natchitoches for one year when her husband was hired to coach at Northwestern. At the end of the year, the couple moved back to Minden, where Jean returned to her post at Minden High as business teacher and adviser for the school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). She spent the next 28 years teaching there, during which time she earned a master’s degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

As an educator, Jean was clearly an innovator. She was one of the first public school educators in Louisiana to implement computer technology and word processing instruction into her classes. Through the years, she served as instructor for summer classes and night courses at Northwest Technical College in Minden and nearby Homer. She also served on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) as a secondary representative. Doerge retired in 1992 after 34 years of teaching.

In 1998, the former teacher was elected to serve the unexpired term of her husband, State Representative Dr. Everett Doerge, who had passed away earlier that year. She was re-elected in 2007, and served until 2012, when term limits prevented her continued service. As a legislator, Jean supported many education issues at all levels.

For her distinguished career as an educator, Jean has earned numerous prestigious awards. She has been named to the NSU College of Business Hall of Distinction, and she was the recipient of the Golden Rose Award and the Golden Apple Award presented by the Epsilon State of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society, which recognized her for noteworthy legislation impacting retired teachers’ benefits. She is a member of the FBLA Wall of Fame, and she been recognized by SACS for serving on their  commission from 1988-92.

Jean Doerge: truly a chalkboard champion.

Chalkboard Champion Ruth Clausen was also an honored conservationist

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There are many examples of fine educators who have made significant achievements in the political realm. One such educator was Ruth Chickering Clausen, an English teacher from Wisconsin who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve in the US Department of Energy. Ruth was born in 1922 in Bruce, Rusk County, Wisconsin. After her 1938 graduation from high school in Eau Clair at the age of 15, Ruth enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire. She graduated in 1945 with a degree in secondary education. At about that time, Ruth married her husband, Donald Clusen, a teacher at the state reformatory. The couple settled in Green Bay, and Ruth accepted a teaching position as an instructor of English and speech. In Green Bay, Ruth joined the League of Women Voters, serving as their environmental chairperson for eight years. She served as the League’s national president from 1974-1978. During this time, Ruth organized the first voter-sponsored presidential debates between candidates Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, the first nationally televised presidential debates since 1960. Her performance during these debates made Ruth so recognizable that she was once spoofed by Lily Tomlin in an episode of Saturday Night Live. Following the election, President Carter appointed Ruth the Assistant Secretary of Energy for the Environment in the US Department of Energy. During this time, she ensured the passage of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. From 1978-1981, Ruth was selected to be a member of the US delegation to the first United Nations Conference on Women in Mexico City. After leaving government service, Ruth returned to the field of education, serving on the Board of Regents for the University of Wisconsin from 1983-1992. For her impressive achievements, Ruth was named Woman of the Year by the Ladies Home Journal in 1977. In 1978, she was honored as the International Conservationist of the Year by the National Wildlife Federation. She has also been inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in 2001. This chalkboard champion passed away on March 14, 2005, in Bellevue, Wisconsin, from complications from Alzheimer’s. She was 82 years old. She is interred in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.