Hattie's Dream
Hattie Beverly graduated from Wealthy Avenue Training School for Teachers in Grand Rapids in 1899. At the time, she was close to the same age as the Grand Rapids School District.
Hattie was born in Milwaukee in 1874; the Grand Rapids School System was chartered in 1872.
The school district was growing and needed more teachers. It seemed like a good place — the right place for Hattie Beverly to start living out her dream to teach. She had grown up in Grand Rapids, after her parents Minnie and John Beverly moved to this city. She had attended Congress School. She had completed teacher training.
Positions opened at Congress School. She applied.
Certainly, she would be hired.
That was not the case. She was African - American. School leaders opposed her appointment, except for F. J. Bolitho who became an advocate.
"This year marks the 145th Anniversary of Hattie Beverly's birth and the 120th Anniversary of the year she started teaching," said Sophia Brewer.
A Collection Development Librarian at Grand Rapids Community College and also Co - President with JoEllen Clarey of the Grand Rapids Women's History, Brewer has a passion for women's history and the desire to share with others what she discovers, especially about African - Americans.
Next Monday, December 16, Sophia Brewer will introduce Hattie Beverly to students at Congress School through a presentation, including drawings sketched by a colleague, Mark Fortuna.
"I will present her to students at the school where she taught 120 years ago," Brewer said. "I want them to know that history helps us to understand who we are and gives us a sense of pride and purpose. When others are saying our students can't learn, history shows them how ingenuous we can be in spite of oppression. It tells a lot about our tenacity."
Brewer says the Hattie Beverly is one of the presentations that she plans to publish as part of a series about notable African - American women — and men.
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