Delaware

• Delaware State Colored Teachers Association (1919 – 1941)
• Delaware State Teachers’ Association (1941 – ?)

• Mr. Isaac W. Howard (1919 – 1928)
• Mr. Robert W. Thomas (1931)
• Mr. James R. Webb (1933 – 1934)
• S. Marcellus Blackburn (1934 – 1935?)
• Mr. Clinton D. Collins (1935 – 1937)
• Mr. Bernard Young (1937 – 1938)
• Mr. Douglass S. King (1940 ~ 1941)
• Mr. George E. Dredden (1941 – 1942)
• Prof. J. Stanley James (1943 – ?)
• Mr. Webster Jolley (mid-to-late 1940s ?)
• Mrs. Ruth Webb (1947 – 1949)
• Mr. Alfred G. Waters (1949 – 1950)
• Mr. Charles B. Goslee (1950 – 1952)
• Mr. Willis Powell (? – 1955)

*please note: a “?” or “~” indicates exact dates are uncertain at this time

The Delaware State Colored Teachers Association (DSCTA) was founded in 1919 by 68 teachers with the goal of enhancing the welfare of Black education in the state. Members of the early organization viewed themselves as “educational leaders and molders of thought and public opinion,” and they believed a teachers’ association would enable them to best protect the interests of Black children in a shifting legal landscape.¹ The association was formed shortly after revisions to the Delaware School Law strengthened decentralized control of schools, authorized additional levies for school funds, and standardized compulsory attendance to 180 days per year.² The association’s early goals included “strengthening the professional spirit” among Black educators and advocating for additional resources for Black schools, especially those in the rural areas of the state.³

Public education in Delaware was severely underfunded at the time the new school code of 1919 was passed, and the lack of financial resources was a point of concern for Black and White teachers in the state. In the 1920s, one of the DSCTA’s goals was to obtain more resources for school buildings, especially for those in the rural areas of the state. Pierre S. du Pont was a significant financier of Black schools during this time, so much so that the first President of the DSCTA, Isaac W. Howard, convened a Pierre S. du Pont week celebration to recognize du Pont’s financial contributions to Black education in the state.⁴ By 1927, these contributions helped build enough good quality buildings to attract prospective teachers from around the region.⁵

The DSCTA also used its collective power to advocate for legal changes that would equalize working conditions between Black and White teachers. Spearheaded by Mr. Howard, the association’s Legislative Committee took the lead on advocating for legal and policy changes. For example, in 1925, the association began a campaign to equalize salaries among all teachers holding a certification in the state, arguing Black teachers are providing the same service to the state as White teachers and their cost-of-living requirements are the same.⁶ Although Wilmington, DE followed a policy of “equal pay for equal work,” including for teachers, there were pervasive inequalities in rural districts. As President, Mr. Howard was a champion of this campaign, and he worked tirelessly with the Legislative Committee to pressure the Delaware General Assembly to pass a bill equalizing salaries. In 1927, the General Assembly passed the salary equalization bill and appropriated $30,000 to carrying out the terms of the bill.⁷

In addition to their political advocacy, the association was committed to supporting and improving the pedagogical practices of Black educators in the state. The DSCTA leveraged close associations with Delaware State College, which trained many of the Black educators in the state, and the American Teachers Association to ensure they were meeting their professional goals and staying abreast of advances in teaching and learning practices.⁸ Delegates from the DSCTA were also active in Region V of the ATA, which included New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Guest speakers, such as Carter G. Woodson and Nannie Burroughs, were frequently invited to speak at DSCTA meetings. The themes of the association’s annual meetings reflect their range of civic commitments, such as education for leadership, practical citizenship, human relations, and peace, as well as their commitments to responsive teaching that provided a dynamic and engaging education. In 1941, the DSCTA changed its name to the Delaware State Teachers Association (DSTA).

Additionally, the DSCTA often consulted with the Delaware State Education Association, the White-only state affiliate of the National Education Association, on matters related to teaching and politics. Oftentimes, the two associations would pass similar resolutions on matters related to state education policy to send a strong message to state education officials.⁹

In 1947, the Delaware State Education Association, the historically White affiliate of the National Education Association, voted to amend its constitution to allow Black members.¹⁰ The DSEA’s by-laws had been amended in 1923 to prohibit Black teachers, and it wasn’t until 1942 that members began to advocate for a change in this policy.¹¹ The following year, the DSEA further amended its constitution to provide that the president of the DSTA would automatically be a member of the DSEA Board of Directors, and by 1950 Black members sat on the legislative committee and the committee on resolutions.¹² The northernmost county of the state, where Wilmington is located, completely integrated within a few years, while the organizations in the two southern counties remained segregated. In 1950, the ATA’s Bulletin reported that although neither Black nor White teachers were satisfied with the arrangement, they had made “historically significant progress” and remained committed to continuing progress toward a “complete and democratically progressive professional association of ALL of the teachers of the state of Delaware.”¹³

Throughout the 1950s, the DSTA remained active in the state. The DSTA continued to send delegates to Region V meetings of the ATA, and in 1950, Black educators from Delaware hosted the region’s annual conference.¹⁴ In 1956, the DSTA became the first teachers’ association to have its state convention televised, and Eleanor Roosevelt spoke at the convening.¹⁵ In 1957, the English section of DSTA worked in collaboration with the state department of education and the University of Delaware to overall the state’s mandated English curriculum in an effort called “Operation English.”¹⁶ These, and other, activities reflected Black teachers’ continued commitment to Black education in the state during a period of rapid change and uncertainty.

Footnotes

¹ “Negro Teachers Back up New Code,” Evening Journal, Jul. 29, 1919, pg. 11

² R.E. Strumbeck, “A Study of the Origins and the Changing Functions of the Delaware State Education Association and the Wilmington Federation of Teachers in Delaware,” ProQuest dissertations, 1975

³ "Colored Teachers Praise Work of Educators,” Newark Post, Apr. 27, 1921, pg. 4; “State and Peninsula News Told in Brief Spicy Items,” Smyrna Times, Nov. 21, 1923, pg. 7

⁴ "Teachers Laud Retiring Head of Association,” Philadelphia Tribune, Nov. 22, 1928, pg. 3

⁵ "Elementary Education in the Colored Schools of Delaware,” The Bulletin: Official Organ of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools. Tuskegee, AL: National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools. Volume 7. No. 7. Apr.-May 1927. Wilson Library, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Black Teacher Archive. https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:493803544$23i

⁶ "Negro Teachers Want Equal Pay with Whites,” Milford Chronicle, Jan. 2, 1925, pg. 1

⁷ Alice Nelson-Dunbar, "Little Excursions Week by Week,” Philadelphia Tribune, Nov. 24, 1927, pg A5

⁸ “Delaware State Colored Teachers Association,” The Bulletin: Official Organ of the American Teachers Association, (Montgomery, AL: American Teachers Association) vol. 18, no. 2, 1941. Gelman Library, George Washington University. Black Teacher Archive.

⁹ “Negro Teachers Elect Officers,” Milford Chronicle, Nov. 30, 1934, pg. 1

¹⁰ 1947, "Secretarial Briefs,” The Bulletin: official organ of the American Teachers Association. Montgomery, Alabama : American Teachers Association. Volume 23. No. 2. Dec. 1947. Gelman Library, George Washington University. Black Teacher Archive.

¹¹ "Teachers Ask for More School Money,” Milford Chronicle, Nov. 23, 1923, pg 7; Monday Morning, August 14, 1950,” The Bulletin: official organ of the American Teachers Association. Montgomery, Alabama : American Teachers Association. Volume 26. No. 4. Oct.-Dec. 1950. Gelman Library, George Washington University. Black Teacher Archive. https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:495305865$12i

¹² "Monday Morning, August 14, 1950”

¹³ "Monday Morning, August 14, 1950”

¹⁴ "Three ATA Regional Conventions,” The Bulletin: Official Organ of the American Teachers Association. (Montgomery, AL: American Teachers Association) vol. 26, no. 3 (July - Sept. 1950). Gelman Library, George Washington University, Black Teacher Archive. https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:493329585$20i

^{15 "}Eleanor Roosevelt, Trying Time on TV,” Los Angeles Mirror, Nov. 1, 1956, pg. 30

¹⁶ "English Teaching Gets Overhauled,” The Sandusky Register, Sep. 26, 1957, pg. 16