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.

Charlotte Forten Grimke (1837-1914) was born into the affluent and influential Forten-Purvis family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her family were members of the Philadelphia Vigilant Committee and Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Charlotte herself became a member of the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society.

Charlotte attended the Higginson Grammar School in Salem, Massachusetts and was the only non-white child in her class of 200. She later attended Salem Normal School and studented literature and teaching. She taught for 2 years at Epes Grammar School in Salem, but returned to Philadelphia after contracting tuberculosis. As Charlotte was recuperating, she began to write petry for The Liberator and Anglo African magazines. Charlotte wove activism into her teaching and writing throughout her life.

Charlotte was the first African-American teacher that participated in the Civil War's Sea Islands Mission. She reflected on her work with former slaves in the Atlantic Monthly essays Life on the Sea Islands. She wrote less frequently after she moved from South Carolina and married Presbyterian minister Francis Grimk,e nephew of abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimke, and uncle of Angelina Weld Grimke. In addition to helping her husband with his ministry, Charlotte organized a women's missionary group and continued to be active in civil rights.

References:

Only a Teacher: Schoolhouse Pioneers. "Charlotte Forten (1837-1914). Accessed February 11, 2008 at http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/charlotte.html.

Women in History: Living vignettes of notable women from U.S. history. "Charlotte Forten Grimke." Accessed February 1, 2008 at http://www.lkwdpl.org/WIHOHIO/grim-cha.htm

Archives: Teachers featured earlier this month
John Robert Edward Lee
Sarah Mapps Douglass
Mordecai Wyatt Johnson
Mary Smith Peake
Peter Humphries Clark
Mary McLeod Bethune
William Leo Hansberry
Inez Beverly Prosser
W.E.B. DuBois
Hallie Quinn Brown
Father Patrick Francis Healy