Virginia Johnson is a journalist, advocate for the arts, and retired ballerina. In this segment, she shares many views on why The Arts should be a K-12 classroom priority.
learn more*Massive Resistance began on February 25, 1956. This policy pushback was a conservative political strategy devised by white American politicians Harry F. Byrd and James M. Thomson, aimed at persuading Virginia officials to enact laws and policies that prevented public school desegregation. After Reconstruction ended in 1877 and the local Readjuster Party fell in the […]
learn more*Lilian Wyckoff Johnson was born on this date in 1864. She was a white-American history teacher and an advocate for rural reform and American civil rights. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to John Cumming Johnson and Elizabeth Fisher. Both of her parents valued education and were strong proponents of community service. Her mother headed […]
learn more*The Highlander Folk School was initially established on this date in 1932. Built in Grundy County, Tennessee, on land donated by educator Lilian Wyckoff Johnson, the institution was established to provide educational opportunities for individuals experiencing poverty and working people in Appalachia. When Highlander was founded, the United States was in the midst of the […]
learn more*Carlotta Stewart Lai was born on this date in 1881. She was a Black educator and administrator. Carlotta Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Thomas McCants Stewart and Charlotte L. Harris Stewart. She was the third child and the only daughter, and she attended public school in Brooklyn. Her brothers, McCants Stewart and […]
learn more*The University of Fort Hare was established on this date in 1916. The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Originally, Fort Hare was a British fort established during the wars between British colonizers and the Xhosa in the 19th century. Some of the ruins of the Fort […]
learn more*Miles V. Lynk was born on this date in 1871. He was a Black physician, author, and activist for science, specifically for medical doctors. Miles Vandahurst Lynk was born near Brownsville, Tennessee. He was named after two bishops, William Henry Miles and Richard H. Vandahurst, of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Jackson, Tennessee. Lynk […]
learn more*Beebe Steven Lynk was born on this date in 1872. She was a Black chemist and professor. Beebe Stevens was born in Mason, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Henderson Stevens and Jule Ann (Boyce) Stevens. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Lane College in teaching in 1892 at the age of 20. In 1893, […]
learn more*Burl Toler was born on May 9, 1928. He was a Black American football player, a National Football League (NFL) official, and a teacher. Burl Abron Toler Sr. was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Despite his physical gifts and strapping size, Toler never even played a down of prep football at Manassas High School in Memphis. […]
learn more*Warren Logan was born on June 5, 1859. He was a Black educator. He was born in Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina; his father was Park Logan, and his mother was Pocahontas “Pokey” Smith. He lived in Gilmer Township, Guilford, North Carolina, in 1870. He graduated from Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia in 1877 […]
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