Tag Archives: Teacher Activists

Carrie Chapman Catt: Suffragist and Iowa schoolteacher

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Carrie chapman Catt

Suffragette and Iowa schoolteacher Carrie Chapman Catt.

Many times throughout history, talented teachers earn national recognition for achievements outside of the classroom. Such is certainly the case for Carrie Chapman Catt, a schoolteacher from Iowa who labored tirelessly to earn the vote for women.

She was born Carrie Clinton Lane in Ripon, Wisconsin, to parents Lucius and Maria Louisa Lane. Carrie was raised in Charles City, Iowa, where her family had moved when she was seven.

After high school, Carrie graduated from Iowa State Agricultural College, having worked her way through school as a teacher in the summer months. Her father, a subsistence farmer, contributed only $25 a year to her education, partly because he didn’t have a lot of financial resources, but mostly because he didn’t believe in advanced education for girls. But the young woman was determined to get a college degree. After her graduation, she continued to teach, earning a stellar reputation as an educator. In time, she was promoted to the position of  superintendent of schools.

Carrie could have remained in that comfortable job until retirement, but she was determined to improve the lives of the women of her day. The right to vote for women became her life’s passion. The intrepid teacher became one of the leading forces for the Suffragist movement, which lobbied state by state, and eventually descended upon Washington, DC, to pressure Congress into passing a constitutional amendment that would grant women the right to vote. Once that goal was accomplished, Carrie spent the rest of her life advocating for peace and human rights.

You can read about the life of this remarkable educator in my recently published book, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor, now available on amazon.

The Civil War raged around her, but that didn’t stop educator Laura Towne

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Laura Towne

The Civil War raged around her, but that didn’t stop teacher Laura Towne

American history is full of chalkboard champions who risk life and limb for their students. One of these educators is Laura Towne, continued to teach even though the Civil War raged around her.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Laura was raised in Philadelphia, where she moved in socially progressive circles. She was formally educated as both a homeopathic physician and a school teacher. She was also a dedicated abolitionist.

During the Civil War, Laura was one of the first Northern women to go south to work with freed slaves. She traveled to St. Helena Island in Port Royal, South Carolina, where she founded the first school for freed slaves, even though the battle continued to rage all around her.

This chalkboard champion was practical, independent, down-to-earth, and strong-willed. She readily entered into the life of Saint Helena Island, where she began her work attending to the medical needs of the freed slaves. In June, 1862, Laura gave up her medical practice, and together with Ellen Murray, her life-long friend and fellow teacher, opened the first school for freed slaves. Laura named her institution the Penn School. Nine adults students enrolled in the school, which operated out of the back room of an abandoned plantation house. Unlike most schools established for emancipated slaves, Laura’s school offered a rigorous curriculum, which was modeled on the schools of New England.

Laura spent forty years running her school and grew to love the life she had established in Port Royal. She and Ellen eventually adopted several African American children and raised them as their own. Upon her death in 1901, Laura bequeathed the Penn School to the Hampton Institute, at which time it began operating as the Penn Normal, Industrial, and Agricultural School.
Laura Towne: A true chalkboard champion.

Elizabeth Almira Allen, teacher and advocate for teacher benefits

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Elizabeth Almira Allen

Teacher and activist Elizabeth Almira Allen

There are many examples of dedicated teaches who have worked tirelessly to improving the benefits and conditions of the teaching profession. One such teacher who exemplifies this is the activist Elizabeth Almira Allen of New Jersey.

Elizabeth Allen was born in Joliet, Illinois, on February 27, 1854. She was the oldest of five children born to James and Sarah Allen. Her father was a Civil War veteran. Her family lived for brief periods in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, but by 1867, they settled in New Jersey.

Elizabeth was thirteen when she enrolled in the Model School of Trenton, a facility associated with the State Normal School. The college is now known as Trenton State College. Two years later, Elizabeth graduated from the institution. She began teaching in Atlantic City. In 1871, she took a position in Hoboken, New Jersey. In a career that spanned 48 years, she taught in the classroom and served as the principal of local elementary and high schools. She also supervised the training of new teachers at Hoboken Normal and Training School.

Elizabeth worked tirelessly as a teachers’ rights advocate. In 1913, she became the first woman president of the New Jersey Education Association. In this role, she argued for tenure laws, disability benefits, and pensions for teachers.

This amazing educator could speak German and French fluently, and some Russian and Italian. She was an avid student of history. In addition, she published a book of poems entitled Golden Nails to Hang Memories On (1890) which detailed the accomplishments of famous people. Despite her limited means, she loved to travel, and made many cross-Atlantic voyages. She also visited Canada, Alaska, Central America, and Algiers.

This chalkboard champion passed away from congestive heart failure on May 3, 1919, at the age of 65. She is buried in Boonton, Morris County, New Jersey. You can read more about her in Pedagogies of Resistance: Women Educator Activists by Margaret Crocco and Petra Munro Henry, available on amazon.com.

Teacher Dolores Huerta: The Champion of the Migrant Farmworker

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thLike many people who have heard of farm labor leader and civil rights advocate Cesar Chavez, I have also heard of his right-hand woman, Dolores Huerta, vice president of the United Farm Workers Union. But did you know that she was also an elementary school teacher?

Raised in Stockton, California, Dolores graduated in 1955 with an AA and her teaching credentials from the College of the Pacific. After graduation, she accepted a teaching position in a rural Stockton elementary school. She had been teaching for only a short time when she realized she wanted to devote her talent and energy to migrant farm workers and their families. “I couldn’t stand seeing farm worker children come to class hungry and in need of shoes,” she once explained. “I thought I could do more by organizing their parents than by trying to teach their hungry children.” After one year, she resigned from her teaching position, determined to launch a campaign that would fight the numerous economic injustices faced by migrant agricultural workers.

Joining forces with the legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez, Dolores organized a large-scale strike against the commercial grape growers of the San Joaquin Valley, an effort which raised national awareness of the abysmal treatment of America’s agricultural workers, and she negotiated the contracts which led to their improved working conditions. The rest, as they say, is history.

Although there are several fairly good juvenile biographies of this extraordinary woman, there is no definitive adult biography about her. The closest thing to it is A Dolores Huerta Reader edited by Mario T. Garcia. This book includes an informative biographical introduction by the editor, articles and book excerpts written about Dolores, her own writings and transcripts of her speeches, and a recent interview with Mario Garcia. You can find A Dolores Huerta Reader on amazon.com I have also included a chapter about this remarkable teacher in my second book, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve courageous Teachers and their Deeds of Valor.