Famous African American Teachers

Introduction: Dr. Charles K. Ross, Director, African-American Studies
The University of Mississippi

Africans, delivered to America during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, brought with them a commitment to education. This desire for learning caused them to be placed in the difficult position of forcibly learning English but not legally being taught how to read and write. Although caught in this paradox, African Americans such as Jupiter Hammon, Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Mary Jane Patterson, and Booker T. Washington all had significant educational accomplishments.

Several African Americans received degrees from white institutions of higher learning during the 19th century and historically black colleges were formed beginning in 1837 with the establishment of Cheyney State Training School in Pennsylvania.

With the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, African Americans in the South found themselves retrenched to land as sharecroppers and tenant farmers, legally stripped of the right to vote, and socially segregated. Against this backdrop, education became the leading tool in the fight for equal rights politically, economically and socially. The individuals featured during Black History Month by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning represent and epitomize some of the many accomplishments, contributions, and achievements by African American teachers.

John Robert Edward Lee (January 26, 1870-April 6, 1944) was born in Seguin, Texas to John and Mary (Mays) Lee. Lee was President of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College (Florida A&M) when he died of pneumonia.

Truly a lifelong learner and teacher, Mr. Lee received an A.B. degree from Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, was a principal in Palestine, dean and a faculty member of Latin, mathematics, and history at Bishop, before assuming a position in mathematics at Tuskegee Institute. Shortly thereafter, he reorganized Benedict College in South Carolina.

After being principal of Lincoln High School in Kansas City, he was Extension Secretary of the National Urban League for three years before becoming president of Florida A&M. There, he expanded the curriculum, introduced extension programs and obtained accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Among his other contributions was the founding in 1904 of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, now known as the American Teachers Association. He was its first president for five years. According to the journal of Negro History to all of the positions he held, he “brought a dynamic personality with the scholarship, clearness of vision, and perseverance which made his work a success wherever he cast his lot.”

References:

Hardman, P. “Lee, John Robert Edward” The Handbook of Texas Online found at http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/fleaa.html.

Journal of Negro History. “John Robert Edward Lee” 29(1944): 397-399.