Tag Archives: Teacher Activists

Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler

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Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler of Chino, California.

There are many amazing educators who have made a major impact on their communities. One of these was teacher and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler, who was a significant figure in the history of Chino, California.

Margaret was born in 1863 in San Francisco, California. Her mother’s family were among the earliest settlers of the Oregon Territory, and her father, a graduate of Yale University, was a prominent attorney in San Francisco. In 1882, Margaret and her parents immigrated to Hawaii, which was an independent kingdom in those days. In Hawaii, Margaret became a teacher in various Hawaiian schools, including the Kawaihao Seminary, the Punahou Preparatory School, and Honolulu High School. In fact, Margaret served as the principal at the Punahou School. In all, Margaret spent 14 years as an educator in Hawaiian schools.

When she left Hawaii, the experienced educator traveled east and enrolled in New York University, where she earned her Master’s degree in 1899, a rare accomplishment for a woman in those days. In 1902, Margaret married Eldridge Fowler of Detroit, Michigan. The couple moved with Eldridge’s daughter from a former marriage to a luxurious home in Pasadena, California. Two years later, Margaret’s husband passed away, leaving his young wife and daughter a considerable fortune.

After her husband’s passing, Margaret became a substantial donor to the Young Women’s Christian Association and its World Committee. Always interested in furthering education for women, she became a founding trustee of Scripps College, the women’s school at what is now known as the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California. She also became a trustee of the California Institute of Technology. In Chino, Margaret was instrumental in establishing Boys Republic, a residential treatment center for troubled boys. She purchased the land, paid to have the buildings constructed. and financed the operating costs of the center. Boys Republic still exists today, helping adolescent boys to stay out of jail and to redirect their lives in more positive directions.

In 2001, Margaret Brewer Fowler was named to the Chino City Hall of Fame. To read more about this amazing educator, click on this link to the Boys Republic.

Educator, activist, and member of New Mexico House of Reps Miguel P. Garcia

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Educator, activist, and member of the new Mexico House of Representatives Miguel P. Garcia.

Many fine classroom teachers have also been successful in the political arena. This is certainly true of Miguel P. Garcia, a Spanish teacher from Albuquerque, New Mexico who has served in his state’s House of Representatives since 1997.

Miguel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, in 1973. He earned his Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, in 1993.

While still an undergrad, Miguel became an active participant in the civil rights struggle of Chicano people in the late 1960’s, 1970’s, and early 1980’s. In 1972, he was arrested at a sit-in at the Office of the President while protesting discrimination in the employment of Latinos at his university. He also worked for the creation of a Chicano Studies Program at the school. He chaired the Chicano Student Organization (AHORA) for two years. In those two years, his group created tutorial programs in the barrio schools of North Portales, and they opened a community center operated by the North Portales community.

Miguel has taught Spanish in Albuquerque Public Schools since 1989. Prior to becoming an educator, he worked as a real estate broker from 1985 to 1992. He was also employed as the Director of Casa Armijo Community Center from 1979 to 1985.

In 1996, Miguel was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. He continues to serve his constituents in District 14 there to this day. In the legislature, he is a member of the Labor Committee, the Veterans and Military Affairs Development Committee, and serves as the Chair of the Land Grants and Cultural Affairs Committees. To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion’s political activities, follow this link to a Q&A published in the Albuquerque Journal.

Educator and activist Sarah Lee Fleming of New York

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Educator and teacher Sarah Lee Fleming of Brooklyn, New York. Photo credit: Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library.

There are many accomplished educators in American history who have distinguished themselves as community activists. Sarah Lee Fleming, a school teacher from Brooklyn, New York, is one such educator.

Sarah was born Sarah Lee Brown was born in poverty in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 10, 1875. She was raised in Brooklyn, New York. As a young girl, Sarah dreamed of becoming a school teacher. However, her father discouraged this goal, believing that Sarah could only aspire to be a domestic. Little did he know that one day, Sarah would become the first African American teacher in the Brooklyn public school system.

In 1902, Sarah married Richard Stedman Fleming. After their marriage, the couple moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where Richard became the first African American dentist to practice in the state. The union produced two children: a daughter named Dorothy born in 1903, and a son named Harold born in 1906.

An associate of Mary McLeod Bethune, Sarah channeled her energy into bettering the educational opportunities for African American women. She organized the New Haven Women’s Civic League in 1929, and in 1936, she established the Phillis Wheatley Home for Girls, a shelter for young Black women who had just moved to New Haven in search of employment. In fact, Sarah’s work was recognized by Congress in 1955, the same year she received the Sojourner Truth Scroll from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club.

In addition to her civic work, Sarah was also a published playwright, novelist, and poet named as part of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Sarah’s most notable published works are her novel Hope’s Highway, published in 1918, and a collection of poems entitled Clouds and Sunshine, published in 1920.

Sarah passed away in January, 1963, five days before her 87th birthday.

Barbara Henry: The teacher who helped Ruby Bridges integrate a New Orleans school

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Left, elementary school teacher Barbara Henry with her former student, Ruby Bridges. At right, Ruby Bridges attending William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1960.

There are many courageous Chalkboard Champions in American history who have worked diligently to improve social conditions for all their students. One of these was Barbara Henry, an elementary teacher from New Orleans who sought to help integrate Louisiana schools during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. She was the teacher of Ruby Bridges, who was the first African American student to attend an all-white school in her city.

Barbara as born January 1, 1932. As a young girl, she attended Girls’ Latin School in Boston. There, she says, she “learned to appreciate and enjoy our important commonalities, amid our external differences of class, community, or color.”

Barbara inaugurated her career as a teacher overseas in schools for military dependents. Those schools were integrated. When she returned to the United States, the adventurous educator and her husband settled in New Orleans. She accepted a position at William Frantz Elementary School.

In 1960, little Ruby Bridges enrolled in the school. Barbara volunteered to teach Ruby, but the decision prompted white parents to remove their children from the class. For more than a year Barbara taught Ruby as her only student in the classroom.

At first, Ruby was nervous about meeting her new teacher, especially when confronted with loud protests going on outside the school. “I had never seen a white teacher before,” Ruby remembered, “but Mrs. Henry was the nicest teacher I ever had. She tried very hard to keep my mind off what was going on outside. But I couldn’t forget that there were no other kids,” she said.

The intrepid and courageous Barbara Henry: A true Chalkboard Champion. To read Barbara’s story in her own words, see this essay written by her published by Scholastic: In Her Own Words.

Teacher Harriet Glickman initiated creation of first Black character to Peanuts cast

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Franklin Armstrong was the first Black character to be added to the Peanuts cast of characters. Cartoonist Charles Schultz created Franklin in response to a letter written by Los Angeles teacher Harriet Glickman.

Recently I came across a story about how Franklin Armstrong became the first African American character to be part of the cast of Peanuts characters. I was surprised to learn that the creation of this character was initiated by a Los Angeles school teacher. Her name was Harriet Glickman.

In 1968, just after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet wrote a letter to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. She asked the cartoonist to consider adding a Black character to the cast of the Peanuts comic strip. Harriet was acutely aware of the influence of mass media, and how images could shape the unconscious biases of young children.  “And my feeling at the time was that I realized that Black kids and white kids never saw themselves (depicted) together in the classroom,” Harriet once recalled. “I’ve bee asking myself what I can do to help change those conditions in our society which led to the assassination and which contribute to the vast sea of misunderstanding, hate, fear, and violence,” she continued. The enterprising teacher suggested that adding a Black character to the cast of Peanuts characters would help bridge the gap between the races. Schultz responded by creating Franklin Armstrong, introducing him to the public in a comic strip published on July 31, 1968.

Teacher Harriet Glickman in 1980. She wrote the letter that prompted Charles Schultz to create the Black character Franklin Armstrong.

The inclusion of the character met with mixed responses. Schultz battled with his own editor about the addition. The debate became so heated that the cartoonist even threatened to quit unless the strips were printed as created. At least one editor of a newspaper in the South insisted that no more images depicting Black and White students together in the classroom be sent to his paper. The editor said they were actively fighting against integration in his city, and the cartoons were counter-productive to that goal.

Harriet was a true Chalkboard Champion. Sadly, she passed away on March 27, 2020, in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 93 years old.

To read more about Harriet, see this online story from the Charles M. Schultz Museum, which includes a delightful 13-minute interview of this teacher activist. You can also read the story printed by The New York Times.