Texas educator Mabel Grizzard was one of the original founders of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.

In 1929, a group of accomplished women educators founded an organization to advance the interests of women teachers. These women, who came from all over the state of Texas, formed the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (DKG). The goals of the organization were to advance professional preparation, to recognize women’s work in the teaching profession, and to provide scholarships for those needing help to advance their professional expertise. One of these esteemed founders was Mabel Grizzard of Ellis County.

Mable was born in Waxahachie, Ellis County, on April 2, 1884, the daughter of Henry and Hattie (Youree) Grizzard. As a child, Mabel attended private schools before graduating with honors from Waxahachie public schools. After high school, Mabel earned a degree from the North Texas State Normal School in Denton, where she was a student of Dr. Annie Webb Blanton. Dr. Blanton was later elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and she was the first woman in Texas to be elected to a statewide office. In her later years, Mabel attended Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of Denver.

Mabel inaugurated her career as an educator in Bristol School in Ellis County. She also taught in the State Orphans Home in Corsicana, and at a large elementary school in Waxahachie. There she served for 40 years, first as a teacher and then as a principal. During that 40-year period, Mabel took a two-year leave of absence to serve as the elementary supervisor of rural schools in Texas. In the summers, Mabel served as an assistant to State Superintendent Dr. Blanton. She also spent many summers engaged in research and study.

In addition to her classroom and administrative responsibilities, Mabel took an active part in several educational organizations. She served on the Executive Board of the North Texas Division of Elementary Principals. Also, she was president of the Ellis County unit of Texas State Teachers Association. She was active with National Principals of the NEA and the National Society for the Study of Education. As recognition for her hard work, the PTA of her elementary school gifted Mabel with a life membership in the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.

At Dr. Blanton’s invitation, Mabel attended the initial meeting of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society in 1929 in Austin, Texas. She became one of the organization’s founders, and was also instrumental in founding the Alpha Alpha Chapter of DKG located in Ellis County in 1931.

Mabel passed away on July 14, 1968, at the age of 84. She was interred in Hillcrest Burial Park in Waxahachie.

To read more about this amazing chalkboard champion, click on this link DKG Founders.

Teacher and entrepreneur Moses Sherman was instrumentally involved in the development of Los Angeles in the mid-19th century.

There are many examples of gifted teachers who become successful entrepreneurs. One of these was Moses Sherman, a 19th-century educator and businessman.

Moses was born in West Rupert, Bennington County, Vermont, on December 3, 1853. He earned his teaching certificate at the Oswego Normal School located in Oswego, New York. He inaugurated his career as a teacher in Salem, New York, and later taught in Wisconsin. In 1874, when he was just 21 years old, Moses ventured west to Prescott, Arizona, to teach school. After two years there, Moses left the classroom to go into business, successfully investing in mining, cattle ranching, and real estate. In addition, he was appointed the State Superintendent of Public Instruction by then Arizona Governor John C. Fremont. 

The former educator relocated to Los Angeles in 1890, where he formed the original downtown electric street railway. Eventually he sold this business to railroad tycoon Henry Huntington. In addition to his electric car interests, Moses was involved in the development of the southern half of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood. He owned extensive property in Culver City, Del Rey, and Tejon Ranch.

This remarkable teacher and entrepreneur passed away on December 9, 1932, in Balboa, Orange County, California. He was 78 years old. He is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.

In 1966, fellow businessman Arnold D. Haskell founded a research library and botanical gardens in Corona Del Mar, which he christened the Sherman Library and Gardens in honor of his former mentor, Moses Sherman. To learn more about these institutions, click on this link: Sherman Library and Gardens.

Author Terry Lee Marzell shares the remarkable story of Olive Mann Isbell, pioneer teacher who taught her students in a school established in California’s Santa Clara Mission while the Mexican American War raged all around them.

Frontier teacher Anna Webber of Kansas leaves a diary that describes her classroom experiences and conditions in her prairie school.

There are many fascinating stories in American history of remarkable young women who taught school on the Western frontier. One of these was Anna Webber, an elementary school teacher from Kansas. Anna left behind a diary of her classroom experiences which describe the typical conditions of prairie schools.

Anna Webber was born in Breckenridge, Kansas, on September 16, 1860. Her parents, William Ellsworth and Thankful Delila Webber, moved to Iowa shortly after Anna’s birth because of economic pressures. They lived there until Anna’s mother passed away in 1872.  Anna’s father remarried and moved his new wife and children back to Kansas the following year.

Not much is known about Anna’s childhood. Historical records show that she attended school in Mitchell County, and in the spring of 1881 she travelled to Beloit where she passed her teacher’s examination. 

The young teacher inaugurated her professional career in 1881 in a small town in Mitchell County, Kansas. The town was was a growing community of farmers and railroad workers. Eleven boys and five girls were enrolled on her first day at Blue Hill School. Her students ranged in age from six to thirteen years, and the school term was three months in  length. Anna’s one-room school house was constructed from sod, and the furnishings were sparse. There was one chair for the teacher, and the students sat on benches made of lumber boards balanced on rocks. 

Anna taught school in Blue Hills and in two nearby Kansas counties throughout the 1880’s. In June, 1890, she accepted a position at the Kansas Industrial School where she taught home economics courses. That same year she met Robert Gravatt, and the two were married on February 5, 1891.

Anna kept a diary of her experiences as a frontier teacher which has been edited by Lila Gravatt Scrimsher. The diary was published as “The Diary of Anna Webber: Early Day Teacher of Mitchell County” in Kansas Historical Quarterly in 1972. You can read the publication online at Anna Webber’s Diary.

You can read more about this remarkable teacher in the book Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West by Chris Enss. You can also read the article “Wild Women of the West: Anna Webber,” also by Chriss Enss, published online at Cowgirl Magazine.