Tag Archives: Suffragist Teachers

Ethel Cuff Black: Suffragist and pioneering Black teacher

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Social Studies educator Ethel Cuff Black was an active suffragist and the first African American public school teacher in Rochester, New York. Photo credit: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Many talented educators earn notoriety for fields of endeavor outside of the classroom. One of these was Ethel Cuff Black. She became an active suffragist, and broke barriers when she became the first African American teacher in Rochester, New York.

Ethel Cuff Black was born in 1890 in Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware. Her father was a prominent banker, and her maternal grandfather was a Civil War Veteran. As a young woman, Ethel attended Industrial School for Colored Youth in Bordentown, New Jersey. She graduated with the highest grade point average in her class. In 1915, she graduated cum laude with a major in education from Howard University. While she attended Howard, she  chairwoman of the collegiate chapter of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).

In addition, Ethel is credited with being one of the founding members of the prestigious Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The organization devoted themselves to social activism and community service. Ethel was elected the sorority’s first Vice President. With her sorority sisters, the future educator attended the group’s first public event, the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, DC, in March of 1913. Prominent suffragist Mary Church Terrell had argued vigorously on behalf of the Deltas to win them a place in the parade, where they were the only African American organization to participate.

After her college graduation, Ethel became the first African American teacher to work in schools in Rochester, New York. Later she taught social studies in public schools in Oklahoma and Missouri, and she worked at PS 108 in South Ozone Park, New York, where she taught for 27 years. She also served as a faculty member at Delaware State College in Dover before her retirement in 1957.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on September 17, 1977, at the age of 77. To learn more about her, read the obituary published by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

US suffrage schools helped to win the vote for women

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Educator and suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt established suffrage schools that helped women in the United States earn the right to vote.

When I read about remarkable teachers, I often come across terms that describe varieties of schools I have never heard of before. One such example is the term “suffrage schools.” These schools were first developed in 1917 by suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, a trained and experienced teacher. Her purpose in establishing theses schools was to train women volunteers to become politically effective in their efforts to win the vote for women.
For the suffrage schools, Carrie developed innovative courses that focused on theories of government, political institutions, and practical applications. She also encouraged women to study state laws, identifying those that were unfair to women, and working to change them. The curriculum also included such topics as public speaking, the organization of the US government, the history of the suffrage movement, how to develop a good relationship with the press, and how to use the press for influencing the electorate. Eventually the lessons taught in these schools paid off, for women won the right to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919.
You can read more about Carrie Chapman Catt and her suffrage schools in my second book, Chalkboard Heroes, available on amazon.

Mamie Dillard: Kansas teacher and avid suffragist

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Mamie Dillard: Kansas teacher and avid suffragist.

Many excellent classroom teachers also work tirelessly to improve society as a whole. One of these is Mamie J. Dillard, an African American teacher and suffragist from Kansas.

Mamie was born Mary Jane Dillard in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, on September 10, 1874. Although her name was Mary Jane, she always preferred to be called Mamie. Her parents, Jesse and Fannie Dillard, were both born in Virginia. Neither of them could read or write. The family moved to Kansas in 1870.  As a young girl, Mamie was an excellent student. She graduated from Lawrence High School with top grades. In fact, she was the only African American in her graduating class.

The future educator earned her Bachelor’s degree from Kansas University in 1896. Once she earned her degree, she launched her career as an educator at the Pinckney Elementary School in Lawrence. One of her most famous students there was famous Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. In 1909, Mamie attended graduate school at the University of Kansas, where she studied English and special education. Once she completed her courses there, she accepted a position as the principal of the Lincoln School, a local segregated elementary school. In addition to her responsibilities at the school, Mamie was appointed delegate to the Negro National Educational Congress in 1916.

All her life, Mamie devoted herself to improving her community. She was an ardent activist for women’s suffrage. She promoted rights and votes for women and civil rights and leadership for the African Americans in her area. She was active in the African American Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. She was also a member of the Double Six Club, the Home and Garden Club, and the Sierra Leone Club. In addition, she was a patron of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.  in 1933, of the Self Culture Club, a local organization for African American women. In 1933, Mamie became a member of the Self Culture Club, an organization that promoted education and community building among working mothers.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away in her home town of Lawrence on November 24, 1954. She was 80 years old. She was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence.

To read more about Mamie Dillard, see this article printed online in the Kansaspedia.

Anna Julia Cooper: Teacher, abolitionist, activist, suffragist

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Anna Julia Cooper: Teacher, abolitionist, activist, and suffragist.

There are many talented educators who have dedicated themselves to social causes. One of these was Anna Julia Cooper, an African American teacher who was also an abolitionist, activist, and suffragist.

Anna was born into slavery in Raleigh, North Carolina, circa 1858. As a young child, she developed an intense love of learning. She decided she wanted to become a teacher. In 1868, Anna garnered a scholarship to St. Augustine’s Normal School and Collegiate Institute. The school, now known as St. Augustine’s College, was founded by the local Episcopal Diocese to train teachers to educate former slaves and their families. During her years at St. Augustine’s, Anna earned a reputation as a bright and ambitious student.

In 1879, Anna enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio. There she earned her degree in Mathematics in 1884. She was one of the first African American women to earn a degree at the school. After her graduation, Anna returned to Raleigh where she taught math, Greek, and Latin at St. Augustine’s. In 1887, she moved  to Washington, DC, to teach math  and science at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth. Later the school was known as the M Street School, and today the institution is called Dunbar High School. The school is the largest and most prestigious public high school for African Americans in the country.

A lifelong learner, Anna studied French literature and history for several years before enrolling at Columbia University in 1914. There she pursued her Ph.D. At the time, she was also teaching full time. In 1924, Anna continued her studies at the University of Paris at the Sorbonne in France. In 1925 she successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, which explored the attitudes of the French people toward slavery during the late 18th century in France and Haiti. With this accomplishment, she was only the fourth African American woman in the US to earn a doctorate and the first Black woman from any country to do so at the Sorbonne.

To learn more about this amazing educator, click on this link for Rutgers.