Betty Glenn Thomas: An Exhibit from the African American Women Intellectuals Project

Betty Glenn Thomas: An Exhibit from the African American Women Intellectuals Project

Betty Glenn Thomas did not consider herself to be a political figure, despite serving as the first Black teacher in the Oberlin Public Schools in a town that has boasted racial progressiveness since its founding in 1833. The controversy surrounding her hire extended past the initial decision; community members charged the Oberlin School Board with racial discrimination for placing Thomas at Centennial School where she would only teach Black students, and her tenure was up for debate even though the general protocol was that teachers got automatic tenure after three years. The town of Oberlin and historians exploring her legacy today have politicized Thomas’ very existence, which in some ways makes sense given her significant role in the schools and her life-long commitment to civic engagement. Thomas was important and political, but she also had reasons to not explicitly label herself as such.

1940s-1980s