Teacher and principal Miriam Del Banco was also an acclaimed author and poet. She is pictured here in 1931. Photo credit: Public Domain

I am always excited to share the story of a talented educator who has earned accolades for their work as writers. One of these is Miriam Del Banco, a teacher and principal who earned acclaim as an author and poet.

Miriam Del Banco was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 27, 1858. Her father was a respected rabbi and her mother was a homemaker. Sadly, Miriam’s father passed away when she was just an infant, and and Miriam went to live with an uncle in St. Louis, Missouri. She enrolled in school there, and even as a child, she displayed remarkable talent as a poet.

When she grew up, Miriam attended Missouri State Normal School (now known as Missouri State University) in Springfield. She earned her PhD from DePaul University in 1921.

Once she completed her initial degrees, Miriam relocated to Chicago, where her mother was already living. In 1885, she accepted a position as a public school teacher in Chicago schools. Four years later she became an assistant principal at Von Humboldt School, and in 1904 she was named the principal of McClellan Elementary School. In 1908 she became the principal of Motley Public School.

In addition to her work as an educator, Miriam was also a prolific writer and translator. She translated Kayserling’s “Die Jüdischen Frauen,” which appeared serially in the columns of the Jewish Advance and was published in Chicago in 1881 and Alberti’s “Ludwig Börne,” which appeared in the Menorah, published in 1888-1889. Miriam also published articles in educational journals and she wrote many poems, both Jewish and secular in content, that were published to high acclaim. A collection of her work entitled Poetry and Prose was published posthumously.

During her lifetime, Miriam was a member of the Principal’s Club; the Ella Flagg Young Club; the National Education Association; and the Wild Flower Preservation Society.

Miriam passed away on November 6, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois. She was 61 years old.