Lucie Eddie Campbell-Williams was born on April 30, 1885, in Duck Hill, MS, to Burrell and Isabella Campbell, formerly enslaved African-American persons. She was the youngest of nine children. Sadly, Burrell Campbell was killed shortly after Lucie was born. The family relocated to Memphis, TN, to begin life anew. Regarding her children, Isabella wanted them to excel both academically and creatively, so she exposed them to the arts. However, because she could not afford music lessons for all her children, Campbell sent Lora, Lucie’s sister, for piano lessons. Lucie developed an affinity for music at a young age by eavesdropping on her sister’s piano lessons. When Lora gave up on the lessons, Lucie took the opportunity to learn. Learning to play the piano changed the course of her life.

John Berry Meachum was born enslaved in Goochland County, VA, on May 3, 1789. He was the son of a Baptist preacher, and as a kid, he was apprenticed to a white carpenter, where he learned the craft of cabinetmaking and coopering. His ability to learn and execute his work well secured his freedom. He had earned enough money from working to purchase his freedom at the age of twenty-one, as well as his father’s freedom. While enslaved, Meachum met his wife, Mary, when he was moved by his captor. In 1815, five years after purchasing his freedom, he traveled to St. Louis, where his wife, Mary, and their children had been taken after Mary’s owner moved from Kentucky to Missouri. In St. Louis, Meachum used his talents as a carpenter and cooper—a cooper is someone who makes or repairs barrels—to save his earnings to purchase freedom for his wife and children.

Hallie Quinn Brown was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on March 10, 1850. The family relocated to Canada but returned to Ohio in 1870. After moving to Ohio, Brown attended Wilberforce University, where her mother was a guidance counselor. Brown graduated in 1873 with a Bachelor of Science, making her one of the first Black women to graduate from college in the United States. After graduation, Brown began teaching on the Senora Plantation in Mississippi and later taught on several plantations, focusing on improving the literacy levels of Black children who had been denied the opportunity during slavery. Years later, Brown moved to South Carolina and taught at Columbia City Schools. By September 1875, she joined the faculty at Allen University. Brown taught at Allen between 1875 and 1885 and then, for the next two years (1885-1887), served as dean of the University.

Sarah Mapps Douglass was born on September 9, 1806, in Philadelphia, PA. Douglass came from a family of Black activists; her mother was also an educator. Douglass was definitely an eduactivist. Douglass was first educated by private tutors and attended an independent black school in Philadelphia established by her mother and James Forten in 1819. She later attended Pennsylvania Medical University, which was extremely rare for an African American woman at the time.

Lois Jean White was born in Nashville, TN, on March 21, 1938. She was raised by her grandmother and, as a child, developed an interest in music. She was considered a child prodigy by some, but unfortunately, she was rejected from the Nashville Youth Orchestra because she was Black. Nevertheless, she gained the opportunity to play with the New York City Orchestra instead. White attended and graduated from Fisk University with a BA in music in 1960, and she received further training at Indiana University. She then taught music at Mills College in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1960 to 1962. She then turned her career to the orchestra. She joined the Community Orchestra in Atlanta in 1963. In 1967, she and her family moved to Knoxville, where she joined the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra as principal flutist.

Born on June 16, 1900, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Harper Councill Trenholm received his BA from Morehouse College (1920) and his baccalaureate in philosophy from the University of Chicago (1921). In 1926, he became president of Alabama State College, a position he held until 1960. At his retirement from the presidency of Alabama State College on January 1, 1963, he had completed forty-two years of service, including thirty-eight years as president, succeeding his father, who passed in 1925. He led the institution as it evolved from a normal school to a full-fledged college, offering five years of teacher training and awarding the M.Ed. degree.

Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert was born on December 24, 1853, in Oglethorpe, GA. She was born into the system of enslavement. She documented slavery in the United States through a collection of interviews with ex-enslaved in her book The House of Bondage, or Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, which was posthumously published in 1890. In 1870, Octavia enrolled in Atlanta University, and three years later, she began teaching in Montezuma, Georgia. For Albert, faith was important, and teaching was a way to exercise it.

Harriet Elizabeth Brown, an edu-activist, was born on February 10, 1907, in Baltimore, MD, and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She attended and graduated from Philadelphia Normal School. She returned to Maryland, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in education from Morgan State University and later a Master of Education from the University of Maryland. With a passion for teaching, Brown began working in Calvert County Public Schools in 1931; however, when pay discrepancies between white and African-American teachers came to her attention in 1937, she sought justice. Brown, who held a principal’s certificate and, at that time, eight years of teaching experience, found that her annual salary of $600 was well below that of her white peers at $1,100.

Ayesha Imani is a transformative educator whose work in public schools spans more than 40 years. She’s spent twenty-seven years in the Philadelphia School District. She is the founder and head of school at Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School, a K-12 public charter school in Philadelphia. According to the school’s website, the school is “built on the Philadelphia Freedom Schools model to increase literacy and numeracy levels throughout the community and promote respe...

E’ry day this month, Philly’s 7th Ward, in partnership with the Center for Black Educator Development, will highlight a “Black Educator Hall of Famer.“ But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month. February is just the Blackest. Every day is an ongoing opportunity to learn and teach the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Violet Temple Lewis was born on May 27, 1897, in Lima, Ohio. She was the second of six children. She graduated from Lima High School in 1915 and graduated from Wilberforce University in 1917. The next year, she took her first job as a secretary to the President of Selma University. From there, she worked as a bookkeeper for the Madame CJ Walker Company and then for the Indianapolis Record from 1920 to 1927.

E’ry day this month, Philly’s 7th Ward, in partnership with the Center for Black Educator Development, will highlight a “Black Educator Hall of Famer.“ But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month. February is just the Blackest. Every day is an ongoing opportunity to learn and teach the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Enolia Pettigen McMillan. Enolia Pettigen McMillan was born in Willow Grove, PA, on October 20, 1904. At age 3, her family moved to Maryland in s...

Bessie Bruington Burke was born on March 19, 1891, in Los Angeles, California. In an effort to create a better future for themselves—likely to escape racism—Burke’s parents left their farms and teaching professions in Kansas, came to Los Angeles in a covered wagon in 1887, and settled in what is now North Hollywood. Burke is a graduate of Polytechnic High School and of the Los Angeles State Normal School (LANS)—now part of UCLA—where she graduated 7th in her class. Burke received her teaching credentials in 1911 and became the first Black teacher in the Los Angeles Public School system.

E’ry day this month, Philly’s 7th Ward, in partnership with the Center for Black Educator Development, will highlight a “Black Educator Hall of Famer.“ But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month. February is just the Blackest. Every day is an ongoing opportunity to learn and teach the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Dr. Gloria Wade-Gayles was born on July 1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee. She grew up in a loving family with her mother, grandmother, sister, and uncles. That family structure shaped her, with Wade-Gayles’ mother fostering a love of literature and reading, encouraging both daughters to excel in school.

Dr. Jeanne Laveta Noble was born on July 18, 1926, in Albany, Georgia. Noble was raised by her mother and grandmother, who emphasized the importance of a quality education. Noble’s grandmother, Maggie Brown, was a first-grade teacher for 50 years and emphasized the importance of education in preventing poverty. Noble earned her bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1946. While at Howard, she learned from esteemed educators, including E. Franklin Frazier, Sterling Brown, and Alain Locke. She graduated at 19. She earned her master’s degree and chose to return home to teach. Upon meeting the president of Albany State College, an HBCU, who asked her to teach summer school, she “fell in love with teaching and never left [the field].”

Dr. Bertha L. Maxwell-Roddey was born on June 10, 1930, in Seneca, South Carolina. Known for her “big mind,” Maxwell-Roddey excelled in school, with her leadership evident early: she joined the Seneca chapter of the Southern Negro Youth Congress at age 12 and later became the chapter president. She graduated from Oconee County Training School and received a Bachelor of Arts from Johnson C. Smith University, a Master of Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a doctorate from Union Graduate School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Every day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Education Post and Philly’s 7th Ward, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer. But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month and February is just the Blackest. All year are ongoing opportunities to learn and teach and the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Today, our featured Black educator is Antonio Maceo Smith. Antonio Maceo Smith was born in Texarkana, Texas on April 1...

Every day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Education Post and Philly’s 7th Ward, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer. But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month and February is just the Blackest. All year are ongoing opportunities to learn and teach and the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Today, our featured Black educator is Betty Wright Harris. Betty Wright Harris was born on July 29th, 1940, in Ouachit...

Every day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Education Post and Philly’s 7th Ward, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer. But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month and February is just the Blackest. All year are ongoing opportunities to learn and teach and the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Today, our featured Black educator is Annette Lewis Phinazee. Alethia Annette Lewis Hoage Phinazee was born on July 23...

Every day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Education Post and Philly’s 7th Ward, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer. But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month and February is just the Blackest. All year are ongoing opportunities to learn and teach and the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Today, our featured Black educator is Nikki Giovanni. Nikki Giovanni, born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. on June 7, 19...

Every day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Education Post and Philly’s 7th Ward, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer. But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month and February is just the Blackest. All year are ongoing opportunities to learn and teach and the colossal impact Black educators have had on society. Today, our featured Black educator is Cordelia Augusta Jennings Atwell. Cordelia Augusta Jennings Atwell was born in 1...