7 Black Female Educators Who Transformed Education

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Teachers have one of the most important jobs – they always have and they always will. Educators don’t only teach facts, but they shape the way their students view the world. They don’t simply dish out the knowledge found in books and newspapers. Teachers influence the way students think and expand their minds to connect dots in new ways. If you want to know what humanity will look like in 100 years, look at our teachers. It starts with them.

Black educators have played a particularly important and unique role in the educational system. Many have advocated for adjustments to the curriculum, better representation in required reading and more inclusive lesson plans. In one of the toughest jobs – shaping a student’s mind – Black teachers take on even the most difficult parts of that job, because they often face systemic racism and small-minded authority figures. That’s why when a Black teacher makes history, it is truly impactful. Here are Black female educators who have made history.

Mary McLeod Bethune

1875 – 1955

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Mary McLeod Bethune was a highly impressive individual who broke barriers in government, education and civil rights. She created Bethune-Cookman College, which started as a boarding school and went onto become one of the most influential educational institutions in the community of Black colleges. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed her director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration.

Septima Poinsette Clark

1898 – 1987

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Septima Poinsette Clark not only fought for inclusion in educational institutions but she also played a pivotal role in increasing the Black vote in Charleston, South Carolina. On the educational front, she petitioned the city to change the policy at the time to allow for the hiring of Black educators. Additionally, she helped teach the Black community the level of literacy and math required for voter eligibility.

Marva Collins

1936 – 2015

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Marva Collins founded Westside Preparatory School, a private elementary school in Garfield Park, Illinois. Garfield Park was characterized by tremendous poverty at the time, and Westside Preparatory School took in dozens of students with difficult home lives for whom education was not a priority. Collins was known for teaching students others saw as “unteachable” and truly transforming the lives of children who were at risk of being left behind.

Fanny Jackson Coppin

1837 – 1913

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A true trailblazer and champion for Black women, Fanny Jackson Coppin escaped slavery at the age of 12. At a time when educational opportunities were nearly non-existent for Black children, she educated herself for much of her teen years. Eventually, she went on to attend the first college that enrolled Black and female students. Later, she became the first Black principal of a school and eventually the first Black Superintendent.

Charlotte Forten Grimke

1837 – 1914

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Charlotte Forten Grimke was an important member of the boots-on-the-ground team responsible for educating newly freed slaves following the Civil War. She was the first Black teacher at a school in South Carolina that brought former slaves up to the educational standards of schools at that time, and prepared them for life outside of slavery.

Carlotta Walls LaNier

Born 1942

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Carlotta Walls LaNier was a student who changed history, and later became one of the Black female educators who did so. She was one of the Little Rock Nine – nine Black students who were the first to enroll in a formerly all-white high school in Little Rock Arkansas, an event that would mark the beginnings of the desegregation of schools. As an adult, LaNier is the President of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, which is a financial aid and mentoring organization fighting for educational equity for children of color.

Dr. Jeanne Noble

1926 – 2002

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Howard University graduate Dr. Jeanne Noble has been the first Black woman to hold several important positions in our country. She was the first Black woman to become a full-time professor at the New York University School of Education and the first Black woman to serve on the National Board of the Girl Scouts USA. Additionally, three U.S. Presidents assigned her to federal national commissions involved in education policy.

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