Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Teacher Mary Elizabeth Vroman: First Black woman to join the Screen Actors’ Guild

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Mary Elizabeth Vroman: The first Black woman to be inducted into the Screen Actors’ Guild.

Many talented educators can also claim fame as accomplished authors. This is true of Mary Elizabeth Vroman, an elementary school teacher who was also the author of several books and short stories, including “See How They Run,” an award-winning short story that became the basis for a movie entitled Bright Road.

Mary was born circa 1924 in Buffalo, New York, and was raised in Antigua in the British West Indies. Like three generations of women educators in her family before her, Mary attended Alabama State Teachers College, now known as Alabama State University, in Montgomery, Alabama, where she graduated in 1949. After her graduation, Mary accepted her first teaching position at an elementary school in rural Alabama. She later taught in Chicago and New York. Her teaching career spanned twenty years.

Mary published her first short story, “See How They Run,” in the June, 1951, issue of Ladies’ Home Journal. The story, based on her experiences in the classroom, generated five hundred enthusiastic letters from readers. Like most of her works, the story depicted the challenges of poverty and disadvantage. The plot revolves around a young, idealistic teacher who encourages her students to escape their poverty through education, and compares the forty-three third graders in the story to the blind mice in the familiar children’s nursery rhyme. Mary describes the teacher’s struggle to provide academic, financial, and emotional support for her students and their families so that they can achieve success. The piece earned the coveted Christopher Award in 1952 for its humanitarian quality. It was reprinted in the July, 1952, issue of Ebony.

Next, Mary served as a technical adviser and assistant screenwriter for the 1953 film version of the story. The title of the piece was changed to Bright Road, and starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. Mary’s work on the film earned her admission to the Screen Actors Guild; she was their first African American woman member.

Vroman’s “See How They Run” tells the story of a young, idealistic teacher encouraging her students to escape from their impoverished environment through education. Comparing the 43 third graders in the story to the blind mice in the familiar nursery rhyme, Vroman details the teacher’s struggle to provide academic, financial, and emotional support for them and their families so that they can achieve success was published in the Ladies’ Home Journal in June, 1951. The piece earned the 1952 Christopher Award, and it was subsequently made into a 1953 film entitled Bright Road. Her work on the film earned her admittance to the Screen Writers Guild, the first African American woman to become a member of the distinguished organization.

Mary was married to Brooklyn dentist Dr. Oliver M. Harper. Sadly, Mary Elizabeth Vroman passed away on April 29, 1967, from complications following surgery. She was only 42 years old.

To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this link at the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

High school English teacher and Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt

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High school English teacher and Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt.

Many people have heard of Frank McCourt, the author of the blockbuster Angela’s Ashes. But did you know that Frank was a high school English teacher in New York?

Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 19, 1930. His parents were immigrants from Ireland. They came to America to escape the poverty, hoping to make a success of their lives. But when the Depression hit, the McCourt family returned to Limerick, Ireland, where they sank even further into poverty. Frank was forced to quit school at 13 to work a series of odd-jobs (and engage in some petty crime) to help feed his family. At 19, Frank was able to return to the United States on his own.

In 1951, he was drafted by the US Army to serve in the Korean Conflict. He was stationed in Germany for two years, where he worked first training dogs and then as a company clerk. Once he was discharged from the military, Frank returned to New York City, where he was employed at a series of low-paying jobs. He worked on the docks, in warehouses, in a grocery store, and in a bank.

As a veteran, Frank was eligible for benefits provided by the GI Bill. He used these benefits to enroll at New York University. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1957. He completed the requirements for his Master’s at Brooklyn College in 1967, and he later completed some post-graduate courses at Trinity College in Dublin.

Following his college graduation, Frank accepted a teaching position at McKee Vocational and Technical High School in Manhattan. His students were teenage mechanics, beauticians, taxi drivers, and gang members. They were a tough crowd. They let him know right away they weren’t interested in Shakespeare. In fact, they didn’t want to be in school at all. Frank once recalled that one of his students threw a baloney sandwich at him in class one day. But the teacher who was saw his boyhood self in his students knew exactly how to respond. He picked up the sandwich, ate it, and told the class it was delicious. The stunt won over the recalcitrant kids.

Over his 30-year career, Frank taught at several other schools in New York City, including Ralph R. McKee High School in Staten Island, Stuyvesant High School, Seward Park High School, Washington Irving High School, and the High School of Fashion Industries. During these years, the veteran teacher told his students stories of his impoverished childhood in Ireland. He wanted the kids to know that education was the ticket out of poverty.

Frank eventually published these childhood stories in his memoir Angela’s Ashes (2006). The volume won much acclaim, including a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and an LA Times Book Award. Frank also garnered the prestigious Ellis Island Family Heritage Award for Exemplary Service in the Field of the Arts (2006). The same year he was honored with the United Federation of Teachers John Dewey Award for Excellence in Education.

Sadly, this amazing educator suffered from cancer and meningitis and passed away on July 19, 2009. He was 79 years old. He is buried in Great Oak Cemetery in Roxbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut. To learn more about him, read this obituary published in 2009 by the Guardian.

Educator Margaret McCarter: Well-known author of stories about the Kansas prairies

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Educator Margaret McCarter became a well-known author who wrote about the Kansas prairies.

Often talented teachers establish a reputation for excellence in fields other than education. This is true of Margaret Hill McCarter, a well-known author who penned novels set against the background of the Kansas Prairies.

Margaret was born in Carthage, Indiana, on May 2, 1860, the daughter of Quaker parents named Thomas and Nancy (Davis) Hill. As a young girl, she attended Earlham College. Earlham is a Quaker liberal arts college located in Richmond, Indiana. In 1884, Margaret graduated from the State Normal School at Terre Haute, Indiana.

Margaret taught school in her home state for nine years. She then relocated to Kansas in 1888 to head the Department of English at Topeka High School. There Margaret met Dr. William McCarter. The pair married on June 5, 1890 and before long the couple expanded their family to include three children.

Margaret began her writing career in 1901. Her early works included The Cottonwood’s Story, 1903; Cuddy’s Baby, 1907; In Old Quivira, 1908; Cuddy and Other Stories, 1908. In 1909 she wrote The Price of the Prairie, which dealt with settlers in post Civil War Kansas. These novels appealed to readers who appreciated her detailed descriptions of the landscape and events. Her later works include The Peace of the Solomon Valley, 1911; A Wall of Men, 1912; A Master’s Degree, 1913; Winning of the Wilderness, 1914; The Cornerstone, 1915; Vanguards of The Plains, A Romance of the Santa Fe Trail, 1917; and The Reclaimers, 1918.

In addition to her writing, McCarter devoted much time to her work civic organizations and clubs, and she became a well-known public speaker. She was active in the Republican Party, and this resulted in an invitation to address the 1920 convention. Margaret was the first woman to speak to the national gathering.

During her lifetime, McCarter received honorary doctorates from Washburn University and the College of Emporia. Today, Margaret Hill McCarter Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, carries on the memory of this celebrated Kansas author.

Margaret McCarter passed away on August 31, 1938, and is buried in Topeka.

To read more about her, see this link at Kansaspedia, created by the Kansas Historical Society.

Ellen Gray Massey: English teacher, author, and public speaker

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Ellen Gray Massey: High school English teacher and successful author.

I love to share stories about talented classroom teachers who make a name for themselves in professions other than teaching. One of these is Ellen Gray Massey, a high school English teacher who was also a successful author.

Ellen Massey was born November 14, 1921.  She was raised near Nevada, Missouri. Young Ellen earned her Bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Maryland. Following her college graduation, she returned to Missouri, where she settled in the small Ozarks town of Lebanon. There Ellen taught high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors. In addition, she served as the adviser for their school magazine, Bittersweet. Her career as a teacher spanned 23 years.

I love Ozarkers’ self-sufficiency, wit, and pioneer spirit,” Ellen once declared. “When I heard students say there wasn’t anything interesting in the area, I wanted them to appreciate their heritage,” she continued. Former student Kirk Pierce was one student who benefited from the effort. “She really got us interested in our family history,” he recalled. Kirk later wrote historical features for the local paper, Lebanon Daily Record.

Once Ellen retired from teaching in 1986, she published local color stories in a series of books that eventually numbered 29. She also published short stories and articles celebrating her home town. In addition, she became a sought-after public speaker. She delivered 428 public speeches, 120 of them for the Missouri Humanities Council. Most of her talks were given in Missouri, but she also spoke to groups in Arkansas, Illinois, Connecticut, Washington, DC, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Washington state. She also taught classes on Ozarks Heritage and Ozarks Adventures programs in Branson, Missouri. In addition, she taught 33 graduate education courses at Drury University of Springfield, Missouri.

For her work as an author, Ellen earned many accolades. She garnered the coveted Western Writers Spur Award in the Juvenile Fiction category in 2014. The Missouri Writers Guild honored Ellen with 12 first place writing awards in several categories. In 1995, she became one of the first inductees into the Writers Hall of Fame of America.

Ellen Massey passed away on July 13, 2014. She was 92 years old. She is buried in Mount Rose Memorial Park in Lebanon. To read more about this amazing chalkboard champion, click on this article about her published on the website of the Truman University.

Former English teacher Samira Ahmed earns success as an author of young adult novels

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Former high school English teacher Samira Ahmed earns success as an author of young adult novels.

There are many classroom teachers who have achieved success in arenas outside of the classroom. One of these is Samira Ahmed, a former high school English teacher who has established herself as an author of popular young adult novels.

Samira was born in Bombay, India. She was raised in Batavia, Illinois, and in Chicago, Illinois. As a youngster, Samira says she spent countless hours at her local library nestled in an overstuffed armchair next to an old Victorian fireplace with her nose in a book. Her favorites were Agatha Christie novels and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

As a young woman, Samira earned both her Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature and her Master’s degree in English at the University of Chicago. After earning her college degrees, Samira accepted her first teaching position at Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois. She taught high school English there from 1994 to 1999. Next, she worked as the Humanities Department Chair at Young Women’s Leadership School in New York City from 1999 to 2000. From 2005 to 2007, she was employed as the Director of External Affairs for New Visions for Public Schools in New York City.

Samira published her first novel, Love, Hate & Other Filters, in 2018. The book is about a Muslim Indian-American teenager and her attempts to cope with Islamophobia. The novel was praised by Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal. Her second book, Internment, features a setting in the future where Muslims are sent to internment camps as the result of a law passed by an Islamophobic president. This novel received praise from Kirkus Reviews and Entertainment Weekly. This Fall, Samira will publish her third book, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know. The novel is a literary mystery inspired by a poem by Lord Byron and a painting by Eugene Delacroix. The plot follows a young Muslim girl that leads the readers through parts of forgotten Paris.

To learn more about this chalkboard champion and successful author, visit her website at Samira Ahmed.