Tag Archives: Teacher Activists

Alabama teacher Idella Jones Childs worked to better her community

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Alabama teacher and historian Idella Jones Childs worked tirelessly to improve her community. (Photo credit: Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame)

I believe that teachers are among the most dedicated individuals when it comes to their classroom communities, so it comes as no surprise to me that they are often among the most dedicated individuals when it comes to working towards improving society as a whole. This is certainly true of Idella Jones Childs, an elementary school teacher and historian from Alabama who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Idella was born on June 21, 1903, in Marion, Perry County, Alabama.  As a young woman, she attended Lincoln Normal School, a teacher-training college, where she earned her teaching credential. She later earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Alabama State University. For over 35 years, Idella taught history, social studies, biology, and algebra in segregated elementary schools in  her home town of Marion.

All her life, this amazing teacher was a tireless advocate for the equality and dignity of all people. During the Civil Rights Movement, she even volunteered her home in Marion to be a meeting place for activists.

Idella established the Perry County Arts and Humanities Council in 1982, and she became the first Chairwoman of the organization. The Council provided the disadvantaged children of the rural county with unique cultural experiences. For this work, President Jimmy Carter named her an honorary member of the National Commission on the International Year of the Child.

This was not the only work Idella did to improve her community. She also served on the Library Board and was a member of both the Retired Teachers Organization and the Association of University Women. In 1985, at the age of 79, Idella was appointed to served on the City Council in Marion. She was the first African American woman to serve on the Council. In 1988, she was re-elected to the position. That same year she was appointed to the Board of the Alabama Historical Commission.

For her work towards improving her community, Idella garnered many accolades. She earned an Unsung Heroes Award from NASA in 1993, during the agency’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002. In addition, every year, the Alabama Historical Commission’s Black Heritage Council bestows the Idella Childs Distinguished Service Award, which “recognizes people who have contributed to the preservation of African American historic places.”

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 8, 1998. She was 95 years old. Her memorial service was held at her alma mater, Lincoln Normal School. She was interred at Marion Cemetery on Lafayette Street.

To read more about Idella Jones Childs, see this entry from the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.

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.