Tag Archives: Teacher Politicians

Delaware teacher Jonathan Spencer Willis served in Congress

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Teacher Jonathan Spencer Willis also represented his state in the US House of Representatives. Photo credit: Public Domain

Many fine classroom teachers also find success as politicians. One of these is Jonathan Spencer Willis, a teacher from Delaware who served in the United States House of Representatives.

Jonathan was born April 5, 1830, in Oxford, Talbot County, Maryland. Her attended public schools there and also studied with private tutors. He taught school for seven years. He left the classroom to become a clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a minister, he served in churches in Maryland, Delaware, Philadelphia, New York City, and Stamford, Connecticut. Upon his retirement from the ministry in 1884, Jonathan settled on a farm near Milford, Delaware, where. he became a fruit farmer.

In 1894, Jonathan was elected on the Republican ticket to serve in the US House of Representatives. He served in the 54th Congress from March, 1895, to March, 1897.

Jonathan married two times. His first marriage, to Annie Barratt Townsend, spanned the years 1843 to1885. One daughter, Elizabeth Townsend Willis, was born to the couple. His second marriage, to Edith Gillespie, spanned the years 1855 to 1914. This union produced one son, Jonathan Spencer Willis, Jr.

Sadly, this teacher and politician passed away in Milford, Sussex County, Delaware, on Nov. 24, 1903. He was 73 years old. He is interred in Marratt’s Chapel Cemetery near Frederica, Kent County, Delaware.

 

Charlotte Gardner: Educator and former member of the North Carolina House of Reps

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One-time teacher Charlotte Gardner also served in the North Carolina House of Representatives. Photo credit: Summersett Funeral Home

Many excellent educators have also served their community as politicians. One of these is Charlotte Gardner, a one-time high school teacher who also served in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Charlotte was born on Nov. 14, 1931, in Baltimore, Maryland. As a young girl, her family moved to Rockwell, North Carolina. There Charlotte graduated from Rockwell High School in 1949. After her graduation, she enrolled at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and French, cum laude, in 1952.

Once she earned her degrees, Charlotte settled in Salisbury, where she lived with her husband. Early in her marriage, Charlotte accepted a position as a teacher in public schools located in both Robeson and Jones Counties. Over time, Charlotte and her husband raised six children.

In 1984, Charlotte was elected on the Republican ticket to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where she represented the 35th District for 16 years, from 1985 to 2001. While there, she served as a member on the Committees for Aging, Appropriations, Education, Financial Institutions, and Judiciary. She also served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Women’s Legislative Caucus from 1999 to 2000. But her greatest passion was working to improving conditions for the mentally ill.

For her work as a legislator, Charlotte garnered many pretigious awards. She earned the Distinguished Service Award from the Rowan County Republican Party; the Appreciation Award from the Rowan Mental Health Coalition; the Valand Award for Outstanding Legislator in the Cause of Mental Health from the North Carolina Mental Health Association; the 1995 Legislator of the Year from the North Carolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill; and the David T. Flaherty Merit Service Award.

Sadly, this teacher and chalkboard politician passed away in Annapolis, North Carolina, on June 10, 2020. She was 88 years old.

Former teacher Carolyn Comitta now serves as Pennsylvania legislator

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Former teacher Carolyn Comitta has served her community in both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania State Senate. Photo credit: Comitta Official Senate Website

Many fine educators also make accomplished politicians. One of these is Carolyn Comitta, a teacher who has served in both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania State Senate.

Carolyn was born in Buffalo, New York, but relocated to Pennsylvania as a toddler. When she grew up, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1974. She earned her Master’s degree in Education from Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1989. From 1974 to the 1985, Carolyn worked in the Octorara Area School District as a classroom teacher and as a curriculum specialist in special and gifted education.

After leaving the classroom, Carolyn worked in her husband’s business, Thomas Comitta Associates, Town Planners and Landscape Architects. And then she inaugurated her career in public office when she ran for and was elected to the West Chester Borough Council. She served in that role from 2006 to 2010. Then, in 2010, she became the first woman to be elected mayor of West Chester, where she served from 2010 to 2017.

Following her service as mayor, Carolyn was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She represented the 156th District from Jan. 3, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2022. She has served in the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the 19th District since Jan. 56, 2021. In the Senate, she serves as Minority Chair of the Agriculture & Environmental Resources. She is also a member of the committees for Education; Aging & Older Adult Services; Health & Human Services; and Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness.

Today, Carolyn is an active member of World Information Transfer, a nonprofit United Nations non-governmental organization focused on educating people and communities about the connection between the environment and public health. She is also actively involved in several community organizations, including the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of West Chester, and the League of Women Voters. In addition, she has served on various boards at her alma mater, West Chester University.

 

Teacher Ina Dillard Russell served as Georgia’s First Lady

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Elementary teacher Ina Dillard Russell, known as “Mother Russell” by many people in Georgia, served as the state’s First Lady during the years her son was Governor. Photo credit: New Georgia Encyclopedia

Many excellent educators also become very capable politicians. One of these was Ina (Bandana) Dillard Russell, an elementary school teacher who served as Georgia’s First Lady during the years her son, Richard Russell, Jr., served as the state’s governor.

Ina was born in rural Oglethorpe County, Georgia, on Feb. 18, 1868, and raised during the Reconstruction Period. As a young girl, she attended local schools, and  as a young woman she enrolled at first the Palmer Institute in Oxford and then the Lucy Cobb Institute in Athens, Georgia. In 1889, Ina inaugurated her career as a third grade teacher at the Washington Street School in Athens, where she taught for several years.

In 1891, Ina married Richard Brevard Russell, a lawyer from Athens, and the couple settled on their family farm in Winder. Thirteen children were born to the pair, and Ina home-schooled them all. She also ran the farm and supervised their tenant farmers. Meanwhile, her husband pursued a career as a politician, serving a number of years as a member of the Washington Street School Board and eventually rising to the position of Chief Justice of the Georgia State Supreme Court. The family grew to be well-known and influential throughout the state.

As her children grew to adulthood, Ina wrote copious detailed letters to them. She would typically write these letters in the mornings before her household was awake or in the evenings while everyone was asleep. Spanning her life from the turn of the century to the early years of the Great Depression, these missives provide an insight of what life was like for many women in the South during a time of great political and social upheaval, and the varied roles women were expected to fill. It’s estimated that she wrote at least 3,000 letters to her children. Many of the letters were published in 1999 in a volume entitled Roots and Ever Green: The Selected Letters of Ina Dillard Russell, edited by Sally Russell.

All of Ina’s children were successful in their career pursuits, especially her oldest son, Richard Russell, Jr., who was elected the Governor of Georgia in 1930. His tenure in that office spanned the years from 1931 to 1933. During these years, Ina and her husband lived in the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta, where the popular lady, known as “Mother Russell” by many Georgians, served as the state’s First Lady.

Sadly, Ina suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away on Aug. 30, 1953. She was 85 years old. To honor her contributions to her community and to the state, flags all over Georgia were flown at half-mast. This was an unusual honor for a public figure who had never been elected to a political office. In 1932, the library at Georgia State College for Women, today known as Georgia College and State University, was renamed in her honor.

 

Teacher and former CA legislator Patrick O’Donnell garners CalRTA award

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Educator and former California State Assemblemember Patrick O’Donnell was the keynote speaker at the 2023 Convention and Delegate Assembly in Los Angeles last week. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

Classroom teacher and former California State Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell was the keynote speaker at the 2023 Convention and Delegate Assembly of the California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA) which I attended in Los Angeles last week. At the convention, the former legislator garnered a prestigious Friends of CalRTA Award, given in recognition for his dedication to protecting the pensions of retired teachers, for improving the professional environment of classroom teachers, and for expanding educational opportunities for students. And he recounted his return to the classroom after serving eight years in the State Assembly. The address was realistic, but hopeful and humorous.

Patrick was born in Long Beach on Feb., 25, 1966. As a young man, he attended California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in History and his Master’s degree in Public Administration. He then spent nearly 20 years in the classroom as a high school History teacher in the Paramount Unified School District. While there, he helped create a program that established more instructional time for students, thereby improving graduation rates and qualifying more students for college admission.

Patrick inaugurated his career in politics in 2004 when he was elected to the Long Beach City Council. He served ten years in this position. In 2013, he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the California State Assembly. He represented District 70, which includes the Los Angeles Harbor District, San Pedro, Long Beach, and Catalina Island. He served in the State Assembly from 2014 to 2022.

In office, Patrick served as the Chair of the Education Committee.In that role, he consistently advocated for increased funding for K-12 schools; advocated for better access to the core curriculum for English-language learners; expanded investments for school facilities; and sought additional funding for career technical and vocational education programs. “I know that kids need multiple paths to success,” Patrick declared. “Not every kid is going to a four-year university. Statistics bear that out. We need to provide them opportunity as well,” he continued.

He also championed efforts to help close the student achievement gap by securing funding to establish the CSU Center to Close the Opportunity Gap located on the campus of CSULB. In addition to the Education Committee, Patrick was also a member of the Assembly Committees on Transportation; Public Employment and Retirement; and Budget, including the Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance.

Once he retired from the legislature, Patrick returned to his position as a history teacher at Paramount High School. The school serves grades 10 through 12.