Tag Archives: Teacher Activists

Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler

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Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler of Chino, California. Photo credit: Boys Republic

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.

Pennsylvania’s Laura Towne: She taught emancipated slaves

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Laura Towne

Chalkboard Champion Laura Towne from Pennsylvania opened a school for emancipated slaves as the War Between the States raged around her. Photo credit: Beufort County Library

American history is full of Chalkboard Champions who risked life and limb for their students. One of these educators is Laura Towne, who taught newly-emancipated African Americans, 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 as 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 newly-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 War Between the States continued to rage all around her.

Laura Towne was practical, independent, down-to-earth, and strong-willed. She readily entered into the life of St. 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 adult 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 historically Black College Hampton Institute, at which time the school began operating as the Penn Normal, Industrial, and Agricultural School.
Laura Towne: A true Chalkboard Champion. To learn more about her, click on this link to read her biography published by the Social Welfare History Project sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Washington, DC’s Edna Burke Jackson: Educator, author, and activist

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Edna Burke Jackson, an educator, author, and activist from Washington, DC, was the first Black woman to teach at the prestigious all-white Woodrow Wilson High School in her home city. Photo credit: The Washington Post

Many talented classroom teaches have also worked diligently to promote the interests of African Americans in our country. One of these was Edna Burke Jackson, an educator and activist from Washington, DC. She was the first Black woman to teach at the prestigious all-white Woodrow Wilson High School in her home city.

Edna was born Jan. 25, 1911, in Washington, DC. As a young woman, she attended Dunbar High School, a school for African American students. She graduated in 1928, valedictorian of her class. She then enrolled on a scholarship at Howard University, where she studied Romance languages, especially French, and social studies. There she earned first her Bachelor’s degree, and then her Master’s degree. Later she completed graduate courses at Howard University, Cornell, and Catholic University.

In 1934, Edna relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she accepted a position as a teacher at Booker T. Washington High School. In the six years she taught there, she founded the school’s Language Department and became the Department Chair. In 1940, the veteran educator returned to Washington, DC, where she was hired to teach at Cardozo High School. She worked there until 1954.

In 1954, Edna and colleague Archie Lucas, a chemistry teacher, were hired as the first African American teachers hired to work at the prestigious, all-white Woodrow Wilson High School. The pair were hired even though Wilson High remained segregated, unlike six other public high schools in the city of DC. As one of the only two Black educators on the staff, Edna faced scathing racism from her White colleagues. In 1955, Wilson High finally integrated. At Wilson, Edna taught European and World History.

Edna taught at the school for more than 20 years, until her retirement in 1976. During those years, she advocated for increased enrollment of African American students, and for the inclusion of courses in Black Studies to the curriculum.

In addition to her talents in the classroom, this amazing Chalkboard Champion was also an excellent writer. During the 1930’s, she authored a weekly column in the Oklahoma Eagle, a prominent African American newspaper in Tulsa. From 1959 to 1970, she wrote book reviews for the Journal of Negro History in Washington, DC.

Edna Burke Jackson passed away on Feb. 21, 2004. She was 93 years old. To read more about her, see the obituary published by the Washington Post.

Educator, social reformer, and community organizer E. Alice Taylor

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Educator, social reformer, and community organizer E. Alice Taylor of Boston, Massachusetts. Photo credit: African Americans in Boston

I truly believe that teachers are among the most dedicated social reformers in any community. One such teacher is E. Alice Taylor, an educator and community organizer from Boston, Massachusetts.

Alice was born in 1892 in Alexander, Arkansas. She was a graduate of Arkansas Baptist College, earning her degree in 1913. At some point, she established her home in Boston.

In 1927, Alice founded a branch of Annie Malone’s Poro Beauty School and Beauty Shoppe in Boston. She managed the vocational school for 15 years, until the outbreak of World War II forced its closure. By then, the facility had grown to employ 15 teachers and to serve 150 students each year, and it had become one of New England’s largest minority-owned businesses.

In addition to her work as an educator, Alice founded and served as the president of the Professional Hairdressers Association of Massachusetts. She also served as an officer and a board member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for 50 years. She was a member of numerous community service organizations, including the League of Women for Community Service, the Charitable Health Association of Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Union of Women’s Clubs, and the Massachusetts Human Relations Committee.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away from natural causes on January 1, 1986, in Boston. She was 94 years old. To read more about E. Alice Taylor, click on this link to African Americans in Boston.

Fannie Coppin: Teacher, principal, community activist, columnist, and missionary

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Fannie Coppin, born into slavery, eventually became a highly successful teacher, principal, community activist, columnist, and missionary. Photo credit: Public Domain

This February, during Black History Month, we are honoring exemplary African American educators in our nation’s history. Today, we shine a spotlight on Fanny Coppin, an outstanding educator from Washington, DC.

Fanny was born on October 15, 1837, the daughter of slaves. When she was 12 years old, her aunt purchased her freedom for $125. She moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where she worked as a servant for the author George Henry Calvert. During these years, she used some of her earnings to hire a private tutor to teach her for three hours each week.

In 1860, the same year the Civil War erupted, Fanny enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was the first college in the United States to accept both Black and female students. At first, Fanny enrolled in the “ladies’ course,” but the next year, she switched to the more rigorous “gentlemen’s course.” As the Civil War years came to an end, Fanny founded a night school in Oberlin where she educated newly-freed enslaved people.

Once she earned her degree in 1865, this enterprising young educator accepted a position as a high school teacher at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in Philadelphia. There she taught courses in Greek, Latin, and mathematics. Within a year she was promoted to principal of the Ladies Department. By 1869 Fanny had become principal of the entire institute, making her the first African American woman to wear the title of school principal. She held this position until 1906. In all, she invested 37 years of her life at the school.

In addition to her work at ICY, Fanny founded homes for working and poor women. She also published columns defending the rights of women and African Americans in local Philadelphia newspapers. Throughout her life, she was politically active and frequently spoke at political rallies.

In 1881 Fanny married the Rev. Levi Jenkins Coppin, and in 1902 the couple traveled to South Africa where they founded the Bethel Institute, a missionary school which emphasized self-help programs.

Fannie Coppin passed away on January 21, 1913, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was 76 years old. In 1926, a teacher training school in Baltimore, Maryland, was named the Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School in her memory. Today, this school is known as Coppin State University.