Abigail Henry is an educator dedicated to teaching Black history to Black children, boldly pursuing that aim despite the backlash. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in 2005, and of University College London with a Master’s in Material and Visual Culture in 2009. She is a former teacher of African American Studies at Master Charter Schools in Philadelphia. She’s taught the subject for 13 years in total. In that role, she has led numerous professional development training sessions to share best practices in teaching Black history to all students.

Dr. Karida Brown is an educator, public speaker, author, and humanist. She is known for empowering her readership, students, and organizations to be active participants in driving equity and justice. Born and raised in Uniondale, New York, her work as a researcher and public intellectual centers on speaking to the fullness of Black life within an anti-Black society. Dr. Brown is a graduate of Uniondale High School. She attended and graduated from Temple University, majoring in risk management and insurance.

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. Baruti Kafele is a master educator with roughly forty years of experience as a teacher, administrator, and transformative school le...

Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu was born on June 15, 1953, in Chicago, IL. Kunjufu—who adopted a Swahili name in 1973—credits his parents, Eddie and Mary Brown, with affording him the encouragement, discipline, and stability that would later become the core of his program for the renewal of Black society. He is a graduate of Illinois State University and received his doctorate in business administration from Union Graduate School.

Joyce Marie Abbott was born and raised in (West) Philadelphia, PA. She is a product of the Philadelphia School District, graduating from Overbrook High School. She would also serve Philadelphia students, much as she did, for 37 years as a teacher. Her return to the school district of her youth to teach was unique, if not outright unconventional.

Dr. Greg Carr, master teacher and renowned scholar, was born on April 27, 1965, in Nashville, TN. As a child, his love of reading grew from experiences with his parents. His passion for reading, which has grown into a library with tens of thousands of books, was modeled after his father, an avid newspaper reader. Dr. Carr said of his parents, “Both of them were very brilliant. Like so many Black people, it wasn’t formal education; they just had that natural brilliance.”

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. Ms. Keziah Ridgeway. Keziah Ridgeway is an award-winning history teacher with 12 years experience in the city of Philadelphia.

Sharon Bailey was the Denver School District’s moral compass, according to Chalkbeat Colorado. A straightforward critic of the institutional racism she saw in the district, Bailey was also a compassionate leader who believed the system could change and was willing to help. Bailey grew up in Denver and graduated from Denver East High School. After she received her undergraduate degree at Princeton University, a master’s in Interdisciplinary Social Science, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Colorado.

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. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander. Born in Philadelphia, PA, on January 2, 1898, Alexander was part of an honored and distinguished family.

William Lamar Strickland was born on January 4, 1937, in Roxbury, MA. Sadly, he lost his father to combat in World War 2. However, with the help of several aunts and other relatives, he was raised by his mother, providing a foundation that would shape Strickland’s activism for years to come. He attended and graduated from Boston Latin School in 1954 and earned a degree in psychology from Harvard University. In between his college studies, Strickland served in the Marine Corps.

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. Thomas Ezekiel Miller Thomas Ezekiel Miller was born on June 17, 1849, in Ferrebeeville, Beaufort County, South Carolina. The historians Eric Fon...

Mary Elizabeth Branch was born in Farmville, Virginia, on May 29, 1881. Her father, Tazewell Branch, was elected twice to the Virginia House of Burgesses. She and her siblings attended Farmwell’s elementary school but were also taught at home since her parents were literate. Branch completed high school in the normal school at Virginia State College and became an English teacher in an elementary school in Blackstone, Virginia.

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.

Edu-activist Kelly Miller was born on July 18, 1863, in Winnsboro, SC. A minister noticed his aptitude for mathematics, so he was sent to the Fairfield Institute to study. Like many African Americans who took advantage of increased educational opportunities after the Civil War, Miller attended Howard University on a scholarship from his time at Fairfield in Washington, D.C., earning his B.A. in 1886.

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.